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Markets are trading marginally lower weighed down by Capital Goods, IT and FMCG shares.
By 1250, Sensex plunged by 25 points at 18,425, and the Nifty is down 10 points at 5,543 levels.
According to Kunal Bothra, technical analyst at LKP Securities, “We are looking at the target of 5,500 on Nifty which is a strong support and would suggest traders to start buying once Nifty breaches this level. On the upside, its 5,750 which will be a key hurdle.”
On the global front, the yen tumbled and Japanese stocks soared on Monday as the Bank of Japan lost no time embarking on its ambitious stimulus drive, but U.S. weak jobs data and regional risks such as the bird flu and North Korea weighed on other assets.
The BOJ conducted its first government bond buying operation on Monday since announcing monetary easing on a stunning scale, saying it will buy one trillion yen of Japanese government bonds of between five and ten years maturity, and 200 billion of bonds with maturities exceeding 10 years.
Back home, the rupee continued to rule firm against the American currency in the late morning trade and was quoted up by 11 paise to 54.70 per dollar on selling of dollars by banks and exporters.
On the sectoral front, BSE IT, FMCG and Capital Goods indices have plunged by almost 1% each. However, BSE Consumer Durable, Healthcare, Power and Oil & Gas indices have gained by nearly 15 each.
The main losers on the Sensex at this hour include Wipro, ITC, Sterlite, L&T, JSPL, TCS, Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Auto, HDFC, Infosys and Tata Motors, all falling down between 1-3%.
On the gaining side, BHEL, Bharti Airtel, Cipla, Dr Reddy’s and Sun Pharma have gained between 2-3%.
The broader markets are trading almost flat. The market breadth in BSE remains neutral.
