Key share indices fell sharply dragged by financials after the RBI maintained status quo on key policy rates and kept the cash reserve ratio unchanged.
The 30-share Sensex was down 84 points at 16,866 and the 50-share Nifty was down 31 points at 5,108.
Among Sensex stocks, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, SBI and HDFC were the top losers down 0.6-2.3% each.
______________________________________
(Updated at 10:33AM)
Markets continue to trade on a firm note in the morning deals ahead of the RBI policy review. The Sensex is up 126 points at 17,072 and the Nifty has advanced 38 points to 5,176 levels.
Rate sensitive stocks are in the limelight today. Auto, realty, capital goods and bankex indices have advanced 1-1.5% each on hopes that the central bank would cut the key rates by 25-50 bps. The BSE auto index is the top sectoral gainer, up 1.5% or 136 points at 9,350 levels.
Tata Motors is the top gainer among the auto stocks, up 2.6% to Rs 246. Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, Maruti Suzuki, Exide Industries and Cummins India are also trading higher by 1-1.5% each.
Among the other stocks, Tinplate Company and Tata Sponge Iron have risen more than 13% each on back of huge volumes in opening deals after their promoter, Tata Steel, proposed to hike its stake in group firms by up to 14% and 11.26% for a total consideration of Rs 153 crore.
HCL Technologies has dipped over 3% at Rs 471 in otherwise firm market on reports that information technology consulting and software provider is heading for a major management reshuffle as some senior executives close to CEO Vineet Nayar are quitting along with Nayar.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Updated at 9.30 AM)
Markets have opened higher after political parties supporting Greece's international bailout will begin forging a government on Monday after an election victory over radical leftists staved off the prospect of the debt-laden country leaving the euro and brought relief to global markets.
The Sensex has opened higher by 123 points at 17,071 and the 50-share Nifty has advanced 38 points to open at 5,178 levels.
The Asian markets were also trading higher. The Nikkei, Shanghai and Hang Seng jumped 0.7-2% each in trades today.
Back home, the Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy review is due later in the day today. The analysts expect the central bank to cut the key rates to combat the slowing economic growth despite the high inflation.
After cutting its policy rate by 50 basis points to 8.00% in April, the RBI had been widely expected to leave rates unchanged in June. But global and domestic economic conditions have deteriorated sharply since then.
India's March quarter economic growth of 5.3% was far worse than expected and the weakest annual pace in nine years. The data sparked calls from industry for immediate action to lift an economy that Standard & Poor's says could be the first BRIC nation to lose its investment-level credit rating.
All the Sensex stocks are trading higher. Rate sensitive stocks are among the top gainers on the Sensex in the opening deals. Tata Motors, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Hero MotoCorp, BHEL, Bajaj Auto, Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Power are up 06-2% each.
Buying is visible across the board. BSE auto index is the top sectoral gainer, up 1.4% or 131 points at 9,345 levels. Capital goods, bankex, metal, consumer durable and oil & gas indices are also up 0.7-1% each.
Among the individual stocks, NALCO is trading higher by nearly 5% at Rs 61 after the government initiated the process of 10 per cent stake sale in Nalco, which may fetch the exchequer an estimated Rs 12,000 crore, reports suggest.
The broader markets are in line with the benchmark indices. BSE small-cap and mid-cap indices are up nearly 1% each.
