The markets have retraced considerable ground from the lows of early noon and are trading marginally in the red. The Sensex has recovered nearly 200 points and is quoting at 18,127, down 10 points, while the Nifty is at 5,428, down 10 points. The midcap index is at 6766, down 37 points and the smallcap index is at 8207, down 47 points.
Oil stocks are having a rough ride due to a slump on the RIL counter and continued weakness in the oil marketing space. Reliance Industries (RIL) is trading down 1.8% at Rs 903, its lowest since February 14, 2011, on reports that the oil ministry and its technical arm DGH ordered the company to drill two wells by next month and another nine by fiscal end to raise gas output. OMCs are also reeling under pressure as under-recoveries will still remain high despite the recent hike of Rs 5/litre in petrol prices and the likelihood of similar action on the diesel front.
Auto, realty and banking have also extended their previous session's weakness as the prolonged downtrend shows no signs of abating as of now. Given the lingering fears of rising fuel prices and interest rates, Tata Motors has slid by 3% at Rs 1153 and M&M has shed 1.4% at Rs 662. Baja Auto has pared its losses and is now down 0.3% at Rs 1303 after reporting a net profit of Rs 1,400 cr for the quarter ended March 31, 2011, which marks a 165% jump from Rs 528.6 crore reported for the corresponding period a year ago. In the realty space, Anant Raj Industries has plunged by 8.2% at Rs 65 and HDIL has she d2.4% at Rs 155. And in the banking space, SBI has extended its previous session's losses by another 2% at Rs 2363 after reporting a diosmal set of numbers.
On the other hand, Hero Homda has raced ahead by 2.5% at Rs 1848 to lead the gainers list on the BSE. And IT pivotals are in demand on the back of a recent slide in rupee against the dollar. Wipro is at Rs 447, up 2.1%, and TCS is at Rs 1158, up 1.3%.
The market breadth is negative; Out of 2719 stocks trade don the BSE, there are 882 advancing stocks as against 1724 declines.
