Markets opened lower tracking weak Asian peers after US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's statement that US economy was growing very slowly. The S&P CNX Nifty was down 23 points, at 5531 and the Sensex declined 70 points, at 18,426.
US Markets ended on a subdued note after Ben Bernanke said that the economy would gain traction only in the second half of the year. Bernanke did not give any hint on a possibility of quantitative easing three (QE3) after a spate of weak cues from the US last week. Analysts expect sell-off in commodities and equities in absence of QE3.
Across Asia markets drifted lower, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average was down 0.4% due to domestic growth concerns and the strengthening Yen. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and China’s Shanghai Composite were down 0.9% and 0.6% each due losses in the banking shares.
Indian markets have shrugged off weak cues across the global and ended in the positive for the past two sessions. Market analysts said that there is a buildup of long positions and short covering in the market.
Ashish Chaturmohta, Vice President - Derivatives and Technical Analyst said “that immediate resistance for Nifty was seen at 5620 and close above this level would lead to short covering.” Chaturmohta added, “Nifty holds psychological support at 5500 levels, below which market may drag towards 5420-5390 levels.”
BSE Oil & Gas shares were weak in the morning session; the BSE Oil & Gas index was down 0.6% dragged by ONGC and Reliance Industries.
Among the sectoral pack, BSE PSU shares were leading the gains, up 0.4%. Hindustan Copper advanced 4%, STC gained 2.7% and NMDC was up 2.1%.
Top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Communication, up 1.6%, NTPC gained 1.2% and DLF advanced 0.7%. Among the losers, ONGC was off 1%, TCS declined 0.9% and Reliance Industries dipped 0.8%.
In the broader markets midcap and smallcap indices were off 0.3% each. Market breadth was positive, 998 stocks advanced for 640 stocks which declined.
