Markets have slipped to the low of the day with selling pressure in metal, capital goods and banks. ,The Sensex has slipped to a low of 17,251. The index is down 149 points at 17,292. Nifty is down 46 points at 5,227.
Meanwhile, the rupee continued to slide today and was down 25 paise at 55.91 against the dollar on persistent demand for the American currency from banks and importers. The dollar also strengthened against other currencies in the overseas markets.
On the global front, Asian shares slid to near six-week lows and the euro fell on Wednesday, as investors turned edgy ahead of a pivotal European Central Bank meeting on Thursday and U.S. payroll data on Friday.
Broader markets outperformed the benchmark indices. BSE mid-cap index has slipped 0.4% at 6,018 while small-cap index is down 0.2% at 6,409.
From the sectoral pack, all the indices, barring FMCG were in the negative zone. BSE metal index led the delcine - down 2.3% at 9,484 after CLSA turned bearish on the Indian metal sector, citing sharp drop in global steel prices. Capital goods, power and bankex were down 1.5-2% each.
BHEL slipped 3.7% at Rs 211. According to reports, JP Morgan has downgraded Bharat Heavy Electricals to “underweight” from “neutral” and lowered its target price to Rs 185 from Rs 200, citing prospect of capacity under utilization and pricing pressure on new orders. From the metal pack - Jindal Steel dropped 3.7% at Rs 340. Sterlite and Tata Steel declined 2.5% each.
ICICI bank, Sun Pharma and Larsen & Toubro are also in the red. L&T has also been downgraded by JP Morgan.
On the other hand, Bharti Airtel has added 3% at Rs 257. The telecom company is one of the 11 firms included in Forbes Asia's Fab 50 list.
Hindustan Unilever is up 1%, followed by HDFC and HDFC Bank.
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