Key share indices remain weak amid volatility ahead of the expiry of August futures and options series on selling pressure in index heavyweights, Auto and Capital Goods shares.
At 11:35 AM, the 30-share Sensex was at 17,430 down 61 points and the 50-share Nifty was at 5,273 down 14 points. The Sensex and the Nifty touched an intraday low of 17,368 mark and 5,255 levels, respectively.
Volatility in the stock markets is seen with August futures and options series set to expire today as traders roll over positions to the September series.
“Nifty has given a negative trend in near term whereas strong support is expected only around 5170 levels, best trading strategy to trade Nifty would be sell on rise with a stoploss of 5350 as per closing basis,” said Ravi Nathani, technical analyst, Nsetoday.com.
On the global front, Asian shares hit a one-month low on growth concerns while major currencies were range-bound on Thursday as investors waited to see whether U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will give any hint about further U.S. stimulus in a speech on Friday.
Back home, the rupee erased some of its initial losses of this morning but was still trading down five paise at 55.67 against the American currency on dollar demand from banks.
On the sectoral front, BSE Capital Goods, Consumer Durable and Oil & Gas indices have declined by nearly 1% each followed by counters like IT, Auto, PSU, Banks, Metal and Power, all falling between 0.05-0.04%. However, BSE Realty index has surged by almost 1%.
From the Capital Goods space, L&T and BHEL have plummeted by almost 1% each.
Auto shares like Maruti Suzuki, hero Moto, M&M and Tata Motors have fallen between 0.2-2%. Auto shares have extended yesterday’s losses on concerns that sales growth in August would remain subdued on account of high interest on auto loans and rising fuel prices.
TCS and Infosys have plunged between 0.4-1.2%. Software exporters continue to witness profit taking at higher levels after gains last week and ahead of key US economic data due for release this week. TCS and Infosys earn most of their revenues from exports to the US.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries have declined by nearly 1%.
GAIL India is the top Sensex loser, down over 2%. HDFC, Tata Steel, JSPL, Bharti Airtel, NTPC and ICICI Bank are other prominent losers.
On the gaining side, Hindalco, Tata Power, Cipla and Wipro have surged between 1-2%.
Among other shares, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals has rallied 4% to Rs 433 its record high on back of huge volumes.
Jaypee Infratech has dipped 5% at Rs 40 on reports that the Uttar Pradesh government scrapped 34 km-long Agra inner ring road project.
Shares of Network18 Group companies TV18 Broadcast and Network18 Media and Investments are trading higher by 3% each on report that the market regulator the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has cleared the twin rights issues of these companies.
Tech Mahindra has dipped 5.5% at Rs 789 on reports that its foreign promoter British Telecommunications Plc (BT) is planning to sell part of its holding in IT service provider for $100 million (approx Rs 556 crore).
The BSE-Mid cap Index and the BSE-Small cap are trading flat. The market breadth remains weak with 1,196 declines and 967 gainers.
