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After a weak opening, the markets have slipped further with the Nifty slipping below the psychological level of 5,500 and the Sensex gave off 122 points to trade at 18,611. The ones leading the losses were FMCG, Auto and index heavyweight Reliance Industries.
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(Updated at 0924 hrs)
Markets started off in the red continuing its downward spiral following the 2% decline seen on the benchmark indices yesterday, amid a weakening rupee. At 0920hrs, the Sensex was down 21points at 18,712 and the Nifty was down seven points at 5,535. At the same time, the Rupee was down to the levels of 61.24.
The one weighing on the indices were L&T, Tata Motors, HUL and Sun Pharma.
In the broader markets, the smallcap index was up 0.1% and the midcap index was down 0.11% in line with the Sensex.
In Asia, stocks fell to their lowest since mid-July early on Wednesday following a second day of losses on Wall Street as uncertainty about when the Federal Reserve will start to reduce stimulus kept a leash on market bulls.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 0.4 percent, extending a 0.5 percent decline on Tuesday to trade at their lowest since July 19.
Tokyo's Nikkei slumped 2.6 percent to trade at one-week lows, with exporters such as Toyota Corp losing ground on concerns the stronger yen would erode their dollar earnings when repatriated.
Back home, among the sectoral indices, FMCG, Auto, Capital goods, Metal and Power were down 0.1-0.9%.
On the other hand, Realty index recovered from yesterday's fall and was up 1.5%. The other gainers were IT, Oil & Gas, Bankex, PSU and Health Care, all up 0.4-0.7%.
The top gainers among the Sensex-30 were BHEL up 1.5% along with Wipro, SBI, Sterlite, ONGC, HDFC Bank, TCS, Jindal Steel and Reliance Industries which gained 0.5-1%.
Among the ones in the red were ITC, Tata Power, Hindalco and Tata Motors down 2% each.
Coal india, Maruti Suzuki, NTPC, Hindustan Unilever, L&T, Gail India, Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj Auto down 1-2% were the other notable losers.
The market breadth was marginally negative. 484 stocks declined while 480 stocks advanced on the BSE.
