Markets fell in opening trade due to sell-off in global equities as concerns of radiation exposure kept growing. The Nifty dipped to a low of 5453, but recovered partially few minutes after opening to 5492, down 19 points. The Sensex was down 70 points, at 18,284.
The global risk aversion towards equities is expected to continue on back of Japan's nuclear crisis. Operators in Japan continued to douse the reactors from overheating by throwing water from military helicopters, but United States warned of a potential radiation threat.
Nikkei 225 plummeted 4% in the morning session after Yen climbed to record high against the US Dollar since the second World War on back of currency repatriation. The Nikkei recovered partially after the Yen eased, was up 2.1% at 8,904. Hong Kong's Hang Seng swooned 2% after investors dumped shares across the board. China's Shanghai Composite was down 0.4%, Straits Times declined 1%, Seoul Composite and Taiwan Weighted was off 0.8% each.
Back in Indian markets are expected to gyrate due to high volatility. According to the Technical charts Nifty is expected to remain directionless. Edelweiss in the morning note said, "Nifty is expected to stay choppy within the trading range of 5400-5600. A slew of moving averages around 5600 will restrict gains. Whereas multiple swing supports around 5400 will keep the downside protected."
Mid-term monetary policy review is expected at noon today. Economists expect marginal 25 basis point rate hike as inflation continues to remain high. Rate sensitive auto shares were leading the losses, BSE auto index was down 0.6%. Maruti Suzuki was the top loser, down 1.4%, Tata Motors declined 0.8% and Cummins India was down 0.7%.
IT shares were among the top sectoral losers, down 0.7%. Infosys fell 1.4%, Wipro was off 0.4% and Patni Computers declined 0.4%.
On the Sensex prominent losers were HDFC, down 1.1%, Tata Motors fell 0.8%, and Bharti Airtel declined 0.8%. Only 12 components on the Sensex were trading in the green, Reliance Communication was up 2.9%, HDFC Bank advanced1.3% and State Bank of India surged 0.7%.
Among individual stocks, Hero Honda was down 0.5% on reports that company is expected to spend Rs 100 crore on rebranding which will lead to a new company name and corporate logo. Tata Steel was down 0.4% after the company said it was planning Rs 1,500 crore perpetual bond sale.
Broader markets were trading marginally higher, the midcap and smallcap indices were up 0.3% each.
Market breadth was positive, 720 stocks advanced for 532 stocks which declined.
