The sell-off across the world has left an imprint on our markets. The disappointing US payroll data had rattled Wall Street on Friday and this, in turn, has had a cascading effect on our markets this morning. The Sensex has slipped below the 17k mark and is now quoting at 16751, weaker by 361 points and the Nifty is at 5021, lower by 111 points. The mid-cap and small-cap sectors have shed nearly 2% each at 6773 and 8487 respectively.
All the sectoral indices have predictably opened in the red, with the high-beta metal realty and banking sectors taking the bluk of the hammering.
The leading losers on the Sensex are Hindalco (weakened by 5.1% at Rs 140), DLF (shed 4.6% at Rs 268) and Sterlite (lost 4% at Rs 622). Tata Motors, Tata Steel and Reliance Infra are the other significant losers. And index heavyweight RIL has shed 2.1% at Rs 1009.
Reliance Communications (stronger by 2.7% at Rs 172) and ONGC (higher by 0.4% at Rs 1194) are the only gainers among the Sensex-50 pack.
The market breadth has collapsed totally. Out of 2243 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 473 advancing stocks as against 1719 declines.