Sensex breaks into green

Markets recover on buying in Reliance. The Sensex has rebounded 150points from the day's low and is now flat at 17,479. Nifty is unchanged at 5,258.
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(Updated at 0931 hrs)

Markets have opened soft this morning, following a global sell-off. Wall Street extended losses on Tuesday by nearly 3% after data showed the pace of growth in US manufacturing unexpectedly slowed in October. The Sensex is down 54 points at 17,426. Nifty is down 18 points at 5,239.

Asian shares fell on Wednesday as investors shed riskier assets after Greece's abrupt call for a referendum rekindled fears about the viability of a European debt deal reached just last week. Investors fear that this may lresult in the deal being undone. Japan's Nikkei share average opened down 1.31 per cent and extended losses to stand nearly 2 per cent lower. The SGX Nifty is down 1% at 5,238 - pointing to a soft opening for our markets.

On Tuesday, markets in India lost 1.2%, falling the most in 10 days, as investors continued to take profits after last month’s rally. The Sensex ended 224 points to 17,480.

"Nifty (5258) we said ‘and I would say that the market can still climb to 5485 but sluggishly’ the market stayed sluggish in negative territory…the structure still looks positive but can now slide down to around 5200 zones…and upside limited to 5320 zones…," said technical analyst, Prakash Gaba.

Most of the sectoral indices have dropped in early trades with metal and banking shares dragging the most. BSE metal index dropped 1.2% to 11,573. Bankex was down 0.7% at 11,193.

Auto shares have dropped in morning trades after most companies reported dissaponting sales figures in the last month. BSE auto index was down 0.5% at 9,238.

Buoyed by 15.4% growth in sales, Ambuja Cements' net profit rose by 12.5% to Rs 171 crore in the July-September quarter in 2011. The stock was down 1.3% at Rs 153. Punjab National Bank is down after reporting weak Q2 numbers. PNB reported a jump of 12.1% in net profit to Rs 1,205 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2011. The stock wad own 4% at Rs 975. Meanwhile, Reliance Communications has gained 2% in opening deals.

Hindustan Construction continued to bleed  and was down  2.7% at Rs 27. The Maharashtra government is set to initiate legal proceedings against Lavasa Corporation for violating the Environment Protection Act.

SKF India rose 1.8% to Rs 667 on reporting 35 per cent jump in its net profit in the September 2011 quarter. Kingfisher Airlines is likely to be under pressure on reports that the banks have rejected its debt recast plan.