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Benchmark share indices trimmed some of their early losses led by gains in index heavyweights such as ITC and Reliance.
At 10:37AM, the 30-share Sensex was down 126 points at 26,655 and the 50-share Nifty was down 53 points at 8,015..
In the broader market, both BSE midcap and smallcap indices, have performed worse than the front-liners with losses of over 2% each. Market breadth in BSE is negative with over five losers for every gainer.
The rupee fell a 13-month low against the dollar on Wednesday while benchmark bond yields hit their highest level in two weeks as the brewing financial crisis in Russia continued to raise concerns about foreign fund outflows.
The partially convertible rupee was trading at 63.88 per dollar, after hitting as weak as 63.89, its lowest level since Nov. 13, 2013. It had closed on Tuesday at 63.53.
Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors were net sellers in Indian equities worth Rs 1,247.24 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional stock exchange data.
Buzzing Stocks
BSE Healthcare and BSE Consumer Durables indices, down around 4% each have lost the most followed by BSE Realty, down nearly 3%, BSE Auto and Capital Goods indices, down around 2% each and BSE Bankex and Power indices, down 1.7% each.
BSE FMCG index, up 0.2% is the only sector in the green.
Tata Steel has gained around 0.5% as the Odisha government has issued orders to restart operations of four captive iron ore mines of Tata Steel following an interim order of the Odisha High Court (HC)
Among gainers, index heavyweight ITC has gained around 0.5%.
Among bank stocks, ICICI Bank, down 2.7%, has lost the most followed by SBI down 1.7% and Axis Bank, down 1.2%. HDFC Bank has lost around 0.5%.
Pharma shares have come under pressure on concerns over currency devaluation in Russia. Sun Pharma and Cipla have extended losses and are down by over 3% each.
Dr Reddys Lab has lost more than 2% on concerns over currency devaluation in Venezuela and Russia’s emergency support to rouble. Also, the company has launched anti viral drug Valganciclovir in the US market on Monday after the US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) granted the approval.
IT stocks which had gained in early trade due to the fall in rupee are also under pressure after paring gains. Infosys, Wipro and TCS have lost more than 0.5% each.
Auto stocks have declined led by the losses in Tata Motors which is down over 2%. Maruti Suzuki and Hero Motocorp have lost more than 1.5% each while M&M is down over 1%.
