 "Nifty trades below 7,450; realty shares in focus")
Markets continue to trade weak as participants remain cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve meet. Selling pressure is witnessed across the counters with midcap stocks under pressure with the BSE Midcap index underperforming the peers.
By 11:35 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 136 points at 24,415 and the Nifty50 fell 35 points at 7,426.
The top losers in the midcap space include Wockhardt Pharma, IndiaBulls Housing Finance, Shriram Transport Finance, JSPL, Brittania Industries slipping between 2.5%-3.8%.
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STOCKS IN NEWS
Cairn India has shed 1.4% after UK’s Cairn Energy Plc on Tuesday said it has been served a tax assessment notice of Rs.28,200 crore by the income tax department for recovering alleged dues from an internal re-organization of the company’s Indian assets in 2006.
Adani Enterprises gained 1% after it concluded final carmichael landholder compensation pact. The agreement allows for the inclusion of land within the surface area of the mining lease for company’s Carmichael coal mine.
Lycos Internet slumped 7% after its US sted down arm Ybrant Media Acquistion has filed for Chapter 11 protection with US Courts in order to create breathing room necessary to complete settlement talks on Lycos Inc purchase.
Rajesh Exports has dipped 13% to Rs 562 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in intra-day trade on back of heavy volumes.
Bajaj Auto is trading 1% higher at Rs 2,250 (adjusted to dividend) on the BSE as the stock turned ex-dividend today, for an interim dividend of Rs 50 per share.
Geometric has rallied 6% to Rs 191 on the BSE in otherwise weak market after the company declared interim dividend of 150% for the current fiscal.
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(updated at 9:40 am)
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(updated at 9:40 am)
Markets are trading lower amid mixed global cues along with selling among pharma and auto leading the decline.
Investors are keenly awaiting the outcome of the two-day US Federal Reserve policy meet which began yesterday. The Federal Reserve's two-day monetary policy meeting will end today.
By 9:40 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 86 points at 24,465 and the Nifty50 fell 18 points at 7,442.
On Tuesday, benchmark indices closed lower dragged by pharma shares after the government notified a ban on about 300 fixed dose combination (FDC) drugs.
"Investors now look forward to the Fed meeting, wherein although it is largely expected to hold raising rates, its comments on economic outlook and inflation would be closely watched", Sanjeev Zarbade, Vice President-Private Client Group Research, Kotak Securities.
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 54.01 crore on Tuesday as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.
Further, the market regulator on Tuesday permitted foreign portfolio investment (FPIs) in real estate investment trusts (Reits), infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs) and alternative investment funds (AIFs). The regulator also allowed FPI to acquire bonds under default.
Among overseas markets, Asian shares were mixed on Wednesday while the dollar dithered as markets waited anxiously for the Federal Reserve to provide guidance on the risk of US rate hikes this year.
While no move is expected at this meeting it does include updates of Fed members' economic projections and a news conference with Chair Janet Yellen, events that have caused violent market reactions in the past.
Investors put discretion before valour and nudged MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan down 0.1%. Japan's Nikkei took a knock from a firmer yen and slipped 0.8%, while Australia was all but flat.
Back home, top gainers from the Sensex pack are ITC, BHEL, L&T, GAIL and ONGC, all up between 0.5%-1.6%.
On the losing side, Asian Paints, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Auto and Tata Motors are down between 1%-2%.
Realty stocks are in spotlight after the Lok Sabha yesterday approved the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2016. Oberoi Realty, DLF, HDIL, Prestige Estaes and Sobha Developers are up 1%-3%.
A few days before Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented his Budget this year, Edinburgh-based Cairn Energy Plc got a Rs 29,000 crore-plus tax demand that includes Rs 18,800 crore in interest. Shares of Cairn India are up almost 1%.
With Reuters input
