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The markets continue to wilt under pressure, weighed down by the weakness on the global front. The Sensex is quoting at 22,580, down 134 points and the Nifty is at 6764, down 31 points. The broader markets are breathing easy, though; the midcap index is at 7358, up 27 points and the smallcap index is at 7530, up 56 points.
The markets had opened on a tentative note as, overnight, the Nasdaq had nosedived by more than 3% and the Dow Jones had plummeted by 1.6%. The edginess across the Asian markets, despite rebounding from intra-day lows, and the bleak opening on the European front, with the FTSE, DAX and CAC wiping off nearing a per cent each, has further added to the disquiet on Dalal Street. The Bank of England kept its key interest rate at a record low after a monetary policy review on Thursday as policy makers try to gauge the amount of spare capacity in the economy.
The VIX or volatility index has spiralled by 27% this week, which possibly suggests a wild ride ahead for the markets. The rupee is weak in early trades, slipping by 25 paise at 60.32 per dollar versus 60.07 on Thursday.
In economy-related news, the March trade deficit widened on the back of lower exports and a surge in oil imports, increasing pressure on the country's current account balance. The trade deficit stood at $10.51 billion in March, up from $8.13 billion in February, the data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry showed on Friday. One would have to keep an eye on the index of industrial production (IIP) numbers for February, which are due later in the day.
Financials and IT are exerting pressure on the indices. Bank shares remained weak after the RBI came down heavily on banks for charging different interest rates to customers with similar profiles, saying such discrimination cannot be accepted. HDFC is the top loser on the BSE, having slipped by 1.8% at Rs 910. SBI has lost 0.9% at Rs 2008 and ICICI Bank has lost 0.8% at Rs 1235. In the IT space, Infosys has shed 0.9% at Rs 3174 ahead of its results next week, while Wipro and TCS are down 0.5-1% each.
Auto shares are also witnessing profit taking after domestic passenger car sales declined 5.08% to 1,71,489 units in March as compared to 1,80,675 units in the year-ago month. M&M, Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors have shed around a per cent each.
On the other hand, the pharma stocks have bucked the negative trend. Sun Pharma has gained 2.5% at Rs 630, Dr Reddy's has added 1.2% at Rs 2581 and Cipla has added 1.1% at Rs 402.
The market breadth, which indicates the overall health of the market, is however positive. Out of 2764 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1425 advancing stocks as against 1210 declines.
