Markets trade on a soft note

The Indian stock markets continue to trade weak tracking weakness in global markets. The BSE Sensex is at 15,746, down 135 points and the Nifty is at 4,720, down 43 points.

US stocks fell for a third day and hit their lowest level in two weeks on Wednesday as widespread risk aversion sent commodity prices tumbling, drove the euro to its lowest in a year and forced Italy to pay a euro-era high to sell debt.

In Asia, Japan's benchmark Nikkei average opened down 0.82 per cent at 8,449.05 on Thursday, while the broader Topix shed 0.65 per cent to 732.17.

Back home, technical analysts suggest that in case the Nifty is able to sustain above 4,750 levels, then we may see the short-term downtrend getting arrested. On the upside, however, the index is likely to face resistance around 4,800 – 4,820 levels. At 715 am Indian Standard Time, the SGX Nifty was trading at 4,718 levels, down 45 points.

All the sectoral indices are in the red. BSE Metal, Power and Capital Goods indices, down 1-2% each, are leading the losses.

Hindustan Zinc, Sesa Goa and Hindalco Industries, down 2-3% each, are the notable losers from the Metals' space.

Suxlong Energy, Alstom projects India, Havells India and Thermax, down 2-3% each, are the prominent losers among the Capital Goods' stocks.

BSE Auto is trading lower by 1% at 8,159.

Hindalco Industries is down 3% at Rs 124 and is the top loser on the Sensex. Bharti Airtel, Sterlite Industries, Tata Motors and BHEL, down 2% each, are the other prominent losers from the pack.

Among individual stocks, Electrotherm has opened 4% higher at Rs 158 after the company sold its iron pipe business and 100% stake in a subsidiary of the company to France's Saint Gobain for Rs 950 crore.

The overall market breadth is negative as 1,003 stocks have declined agianst 343 advancing ones, on the BSE.