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Markets are trading in the negative territory in the morning trades weighed down by Index heavyweights Infosys, ICICI Bank and L&T contributing over 50 points to the decline on the 30-share Sensex.
Market participants have turned cautious ahead of the Supreme Court's decision on coal blocks allocations due later during the day.
By 11.25, the Sensex is lower by 104 points at 27,215 mark and the Nifty dipped by 36 points at 8,138 levels.
Among broader markets, BSE Midcap index is down 0.2% whereas Smallcap index is trading flat.
The market breadth in BSE is slightly positive with 1,309 shares advancing and 1,228 shares declining.
Rupee:
The rupee is weaker at 60.44/45 versus its Monday's close of 60.29/30. Dollar is trading at 14-month highs against a basket of major currencies early on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1,162.98 crore on Monday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
Sectors & Stocks:
On the sectoral front, BSE realty is the top losing index down over 1% followed by Metal, Oil & Gas and IT indices. Bankex is down 0.4%. However, Auto and Power indices are trading in the positive territory.
In the metal pack, Sesa Sterlie, Hindalco and Tata Steel have lost between 0.5-1.5% ahead of the SC verdict on the coal blocks allocations due later during the day.
Hindalco is under pressure because of the pending SC verdict on the Mahan Coal block allocated to the company eight years ago to feed its aluminium plant in Madhya Pradesh.
Among the technology stocks, Infosys and Wipro are down 1.4% and 0.7% on profit taking.
Oil and Gas major ONGC which gained yesterday after Bank of America Merrill Lynch upgraded the stock to "buy" from "neutral" has dipped over 1% today on profit taking.
In the capital goods segment, engineering conglomerate L&T which gained after the company said its wholly owned subsidiary L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering (LTHE) has secured new orders in the offshore and onshore segments worth Rs 1920 crore from domestic oil and gas majors is down 1% on profit taking. BHEL has also lost 1%.
ICICI Bank, Bajaj Auto and Hero Motocorp are some of the prominent names in red down between 0.7-1.5%.
On the flip side, Bharti Airtel has extended its yesterday’s rally and is up 1.5% after the company reached a consensus on the sale of its telecom towers in Nigeria for more than $1 billion within the next three weeks.
Cipla has climbed 1% after the company on Monday announced commercial collaboration with UK-based S&D Pharma in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Dr Reddy’s Lab has gained 0.4%.
Fresh buying is evident in the power space. NTPC and Tata Power are up 0.4%.
Index heavyweight Tata Motors is up nearly 1% after the company launched the special edition Land Rover Freelander 2. The premium SUV carries a price tag of Rs. 44.41 lakh.
Coal India, HDFC Bank and M&M are some of the notable names in green among others.
Among other shares, shares of Thomas Cook climbs over 2% to Rs 148 on the BSE after Sterling Holiday Resorts India Ltd became a subsidiary of Thomas Cook India Group in the back of the former's equity shares being bought in an off-market transaction by Thomas Cook Insurance Services (TCISIL).
Shares of Ashok Leyland are up nearly 6% at Rs 40.75, also its 52-week high after the company received orders for around 4,000 buses from State Transport Undertakings (STUs) under the JNNURM-II scheme. The orders are worth around Rs 1,500 crore.
