Markets have extended losses in the morning deals with the Sensex down 85 points at 17,456 and the Nifty shed 35 points at 5,279.
The broader markets continue to remain firm with the midcap index up 0.1% and the smallcap index gaining 0.3%, outperforming the Sensex which shed 0.5%.
The rupee declined by 9 paise to 55.72 against the dollar in early trade today at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on increased demand from oil importers for the American currency.
Apart from Health Care and Consumer Durables, selling was visible across the sectors on the BSE. Auto, Power and Realty down nearly 1% each were the major laggards. Health Care and Consumer Durables gained 0.5% and 0.1% respectively.
Among individual stocks, Reliance Industries was down 0.25% at Rs 780 after Citigroup downgraded the company to "neutral" from "buy", but raised its target price to Rs 847 from Rs 818.The investment bank says Reliance's valuations "are not compelling enough", while the near-term earnings outlook looks "subdued."
UBS downgraded Axis Bank to "neutral" from "buy", citing "increasing" quality risks, "muted" earnings growth and a 28% share price increase so far this year.UBS also cut its price target to Rs 1,100 from Rs 1,220 in a report on Friday. The stock was down nearly 1% at Rs 1,004.
MTNL tanked 8% to Rs 34.60 extending its previous day’s fall after Macquarie Bank Limited sold 2.02 million shares of the company at Rs 38.10 on the NSE through block deals on Thursday.
Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers was trading higher by 3% at Rs 50.90 in an otherwise weak market after the company said it plans to expand the capacity of urea at its Thal unit in Maharashtra with an investment of Rs 4,000 crore.
The market breadth continues to remain positive. 998 stocks advanced while 864 stocks declined on the BSE.
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(Updated at 9:16)
The markets opened in the red ahead of the GDP numbers for the first quarter which will be announced later in the day. The BSE benchmark index, Sensex opened down 31 points at 17,510 and the Nifty gave off 18 points at 5,297.
In the broader markets, the smallcap index started up nearly 0.2% while the midcap index was flat with a positive bias both outperforming the Sensex which started down 0.2%.
Overnight, US stocks fell on Thursday after several days of muted trading as investors took a defensive posture before Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's much-awaited speech on Friday. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 0.81%, to 13,001. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 0.78%, to 1,400 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.05%, to 3,049.
Asian shares fell on Friday as investors cooled expectations that U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will offer any signal of a further monetary stimulus when he speaks at an annual Jackson Hole meeting of central bankers later in the day. Nikkei down over 1% was the top loser as Japan's weak industrial output darkened the country's economic outlook. The other notable losers were Jakarta Composite and Hang Send losing 0.6% and 034% respectively.
Back home, according to technical analysts, Nifty has bounced back after testing support around the medium-term moving average. The index seems to have taken support around 5,250-odd levels. However, select momentum oscillators like the MACD and Stochastic Slow are still negative. Hence, any up move is likely to meet stiff resistance. The index can seek support around 5,280-5,260, while face resistance around 5,350-5,370.
Except Health Care index, all the other sectoral indices on the BSE started in the neagtive. Power, IT and Metal slipped 0.4-0.6% and were the major draggers in the opening trades. Meanwhile, Health Care index was up 0.2%.
The top gainers among the Sensex stocks were HDFC up 1.5% followed by Cipla, Wipro, ONGC, Sterlite and Bharti Airtel gaining 0.1-0.6%.
NTPC, Gail India, Hindalco, BHEL, Coal India, Tata Steel and Bajaj Auto down 1% each were the notable losers in the opening trades.
The market breadth was positive owing to the strength in the broader markets. 597 stocks advanced while 497 stocks declined on the BSE.
