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The markets have opened on a negative note tracking weak global cues. By 9:25, the Sensex was lower by 84 points at 19,978 and the Nifty was at 6,062 down 33 points.
US stocks fell on Wednesday with the S&P 500 posting its biggest decline in three weeks, after minutes from the latest US Federal Reserve meeting showed some officials were open to tapering large-scale asset purchases as early as at the June meeting.
The Dow Jones industrial average ended 0.52 per cent lower at 15,307 and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 0.83 per cent to end at 1,655.
Among Asia, China's factory activity shrank for the first time in seven months in May as new orders fell, a preliminary survey of purchasing managers showed, adding to concerns that a recovery in the world's second-largest economy is sputtering.
Japanese government bond prices dived and 10-year JGB futures tumbled a full point, prompting the Tokyo Stock Exchange to temporarily suspend trade as the dollar hit a near three-year high versus a basket of currencies on Thursday. After the resumption of trade, 10-year JGB futures recouped some of their losses but were still down 0.71 point at 141.19. The 10-year JGB yield jumped to as high as 1.0%, its highest level since April last year.
Oil extended its losses in Asian trade today on a stronger dollar after the US Federal Reserve hinted that it could ease its massive stimulus policy soon, analysts said.
Back home, BSE Capital Goods and Realty indices have plunged by nearly 2% each followed by counters like Power, Banks, Consumer Durable, Metal, Auto, Healthcare, FMCG and PSU, all declining by 1% each. However, BSE IT index has gained by nearly 1%.
L&T has extended yesterday’s losses and is the top Sensex loser, down over 2% after reporting disappointing Q4 results. The company posted 7% year-on-year (y-o-y) drop in net profit at Rs 1,788 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2013 (Q4) due to higher finance cost.
Other notable losers are BHEL, Bharti Airtel, Tata Power, Sterlite, ITC, M&M, Hero Moto and ICICI Bank, all falling down between 1-2%.
On the gaining side, HDFC, Infosys, TCS, GAIL and Tata Steel have gained between 0.4-1%.
Among other shares, Oracle Financial Services Software has rallied 8% to Rs 2,630 after the promoter of IT consulting and software firm has received strong response for its share sale offer.
The broader markets are trading weak in-line with the benchmark indices. BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are down 0.4-1%.
The market breadth in BSE remains weak with 629 shares declining and 306 shares advancing.
