Lacklustre trades continue

Markets continued to trade in the negative zone on selling pressure in realty, metal and banking shares. The Sensex is down 100 points at 17,498. Nifty is down 32 points at 5,326.

In Asia, the Nikkei has dropped 2% to 9,837. Taiwan Weighted and Seoul Composite have also slipped nearly 1.5% each.

BSE realty index has slipped 1.5% to 1,794. Metal and bankex have slipped 1% each to 11,363 and 11,907, respectively.

Coal India is trading lower by 0.6% at Rs 341 after the Government directed the state-owned coal manufacturer to sign 20-year fuel supply agreements (FSAs) with power producers assuring them of at least 80% of the committed coal delivery within a week.

Shares of power generation companies have rallied on bourses in an otherwise weak market after the Government directed Coal India to sign 20-year fuel supply agreements with power producers. Among the individual stocks, Adani Power has rallied 4% to Rs 73, followed Tata Power, Reliance Power, JSW Energy, Torrent Power and CESC are trading higher by 2-3% on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Meanwhile, BHEL has added 2%. Keeping it company are Maruti Suzuki, Hindalco, Hero MotoCorp and TCS. On the other hand, Jindal Steel has shed 2.6% at Rs 529. Gail, DLF and ICICI Bank have slipped 1-2% each. Market heavyweight, Reliance, has dropped 1% at Rs 745.

BSE market breadth is neutral. Out of 2,430 stocks traded, 1,170 shares have declined while 1,153 shares have advanced.