Nifty below 5,100

Markets have extended losses in the noon deals on the back of persistent selling visible across the board. The Sensex has slipped below the 17,000 levels down 284points at 16,867 and the Nifty has slipped below 5,100 levels down 90 points at 5,098 levels.

According to Shailesh Kadam, AVP (Institutional Derivatives) at PINC, "Nifty continued to witness pressure at higher levels and closed below 5200 level on yesterday’s trade.This level has been acting as a strong support for couple of months and breaching of this level may bring in delta hedgers which can create fresh short positions which can drag Nifty to lower levels."

The Asian markets were trading on a subdued note. The Hang Seng was down 134 points at 21,115. While, Shanghai and Taiwan were trading higher with marginal gains. The European markets have also opened lower adding to the worries in the Indian markets. The CAC, DAX and FTSE are down 0.5% each in the opening deals.

Back home, BHEL is the top loser among the Sensex stocks, down 5% to Rs 214.  Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, DLF, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Steel, State Bank of India,  Hindalco, ICICI Bank, Gail India, HDFC Bank, Sterlite Industries, Jindal Steel and Maruti Suzuki are also among the prominent losers. On the other hand, Cipal and Wipro are among the few gainers.

The selling pressure is visible across the board. Capital goods, banking and realty stocks are amongst the worst hit in trades so far. The BSE Capital Goods index has shed 3% or 263 points at 8,991 levels. Bankex is down 2.25% or 262 points at 11,391 and the realty index has slipped 35 points to 1,634 levels. Metal, power, auto, PSU, consumer durables, IT, oil & gas and FMCG indices have also shed 0.7-1.8% each.

From the capital goods space, Alstom Projects, Larsen & Toubro, Pipavav Defence, Punj Lloyd, Praj Industries and Crompton Greaves are also trading lower by 2-4% each.

Among the banking stocks, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, Axis Bank, IDBI, Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, State Bank of India, Union Bank and ICICI Bank are among the top losers.

The broader markets are in line with the benchmark indices. The BSE mid-cap index is down 2% or 121 points at 6,113 levels and the small-cap index has shed 94 points at 6,615 levels.

The overall breadth is extremely negative as 1,865 stocks are declining while 665 are advancing.