The Sensex is now quoting at 16337, lower by 181 points and the Nifty is at 4897, down 50 points.
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(Updated at 1229pm)
The downturn has been arrested and the graph has been inching up slowly but surely. Credit goes to the global markets. The Shanghai has rebounded more than 2% from its day's lows and has actually inched back into the green. Other Asian markets have recovered, albeit marginally, from the day's lows. And the Dow futures are trading more than half a percent higher in pre-market trades. The Sensex is now quoting at 16378, lower by 141 points and the Nifty has stabilised around the 4900 mark and is now down 36 points at 4910. The midcap index is lower by 1.5% at 6672 and the smallcap index is down 1.6% at 8401.
All the sectoral indices on the BSE continue to trade in the red. But the pressure has begun to ease in scattered quarters. The auto and and energy indices are now down a mere half a per cent each. M&M is now the top gainer among the Sensex scrips, having added more than 2% at Rs 535. And giving it company are Jaiprakash Associaes and Bharti Airtel, which have added more than 1% each at Rs 118 and Rs 263 respectively.
Metal and realty continue to be the bugbear of the markets, thiough. Hindalco has weakened by 3.1% at Rs 151, Sterlite has shed 2.8% at Rs 634 and Tata Steel has shed 1.5% at Rs 500. In the realty space, HDIL has weakened by 3.4% at Rs 212, DLF has lost 1.7% at Rs 266 and Lanco has lost 3.3% at Rs 56. Among the other key losers, NTPC is down 2.7% at Rs 199 and RIL is down 0.7% at Rs 992.
There is an improvement in the market breadth, with one advancing stock behind four declines.
