Markets fall to day's low

Markets continue to trade in the red this morning on pressure in select counters. The Sensex had regained the 19K level this morning but soon dropped into the red. The index has dropped over 100 points to a low of 18,977. Nifty is down 36 points at 5,692.

Mining and metal stocks slumped in opening trades after a panel of Ministers, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, approved the draft mining bill. According to the bill, miners will have to give to local communities an amount equivalent to royalties so as to compensate people displaced by such projects. Coal India has recovered from its 8% lows and is now down 5% at Rs 373. Sesa Goa is trading at Rs 282 - down 4%.

Asian markets rallied this morning, with retail, energy and financial stocks gaining as US employment data released overnight improved risk appetite. Shanghai Composite was flat at 2,796 ahead of the June inflation figures. Hang Seng and Nikkei have gained around 1% each.

The realty index has suddenly jumped with 1.5% gains. Sobha Developers, Orbit Corporation, Peninsular Land and HDIL have moved up 2-3% each. Heavyweights, DLF and Unitech are up around 1.5% each. BSE auto index has gained 0.5% today on hopes of good sales growth in the coming months.

SBI has dropped 0.3% to Rs 2,469 after raising base rates by 25 basis points to 9.50% from July 11. The bank has also revised upwards deposit rates on some maturities by up to 100 basis points.

Brokerage stocks have slipped this morning. Motilal Oswal has dropped 0.5% to Rs 102, IIFL has slipped 1.3% at Rs 87.40 and Indiabulls Financial Services is down 1%. Geojit BNP Paribas has, however, gained marginally on the BSE.

Construction stocks have also moved in the negative zone. C&C Construction has dropped 1.5%, followed by Gayatri projects, KNR Constructions, Sadbhav Engineering and Ramky Infra. However, Prabhav Industries has managed to hold on to gains and is up 5% at Rs 172. Simplex Projects and Man Infra are also in green. Man Infra has just won orders worth Rs 95 crores.

BSE market breadth is marginally negative. Out of 2,604 stocks traded, 1,406 have declined while 1,097 have advanced.