Markets continued to trade in the negative zone with visible weakness in banking and metal shares. The Sensex has slipped 72 points to 19,693. Nifty is down 20 points at 5,989.
In Asia, Hang Seng, Straits and Kospi shed half a per cent each. Japanese stocks thundered higher Friday in a post-holiday catch-up rally, but most other Asia markets fell after U.S. Federal Reserve minutes showing policy makers considering an end to their bond-buying program weighed on Wall Street.
The rupee today weakened by 33 paise to 54.83 against the dollar in early trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market due to increased demand for the US currency from importers amid firm global cues.
BSE IT index has added 0.7% to 5786. Oil & gas space is seeing some movement and is up 0.7% at 8823. On the other hand, BSE metal index has slipped 1% to 11,272. Realty, auto and FMCG indices are down half a per cent each.
Meanwhile, broader markets have outperformed. The indices are marginally in the positive zone at 7,297 and 7,595, respectively.
From the Sensex pack, HDFC is the top dragger - down 1.5% at Rs 832. HDFC Bank has contributed 17 points to the Sensex's fall. Metal shares - Sterlite and Hindalco are dowm 1.8% each.
On the other hand, ONGC and BHEl added 1-3% each. IT shares continued to steal the show. Wipro was up 1.7% while TCS and Infosys added 1% each. According to news, Infosys is planning to lay off up to 5,000 employees as the software services provider looks to cut costs and boost sales, a prominent financial daily reported on Friday.
Shares of public sector undertakings (PSU) oil marketing companies (OMCs) such as BPCL, HPCL and Indian Oil have rallied up to 6% in morning trades on reports that the oil ministry proposes to hike diesel prices by less than a rupee per month, reduce subsidy and raise cap on cylinders.
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