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Markets continue to exhibit a weak trend in the first hour of trade with financials leading the decline as high retail inflation dashed hopes of a rate cut by the central bank at its policy meet on Monday.
At 10:38AM the Sensex was down 202 points at 18,839 and the 50-share Nifty was down 54 points at 5,707.
Sun Pharma pared some of its early losses and was down 3%. ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and HDFC were down 0.5-1.8% each.
IT shares witnessed profit taking after recent gains following the weakness in th rupee. Infosys and TCS were down over 1% each.
The broader markets continue to remain weak with the Mid-cap and Small-cap indices down 0.7-0.8% each.
Market breadth weakened further with 1,129 losers and 464 gainers on the BSE.
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(Updated at 9:26AM)
The Sensex opened below 19,000 on Thursday, amid weak global cues, with financials leading the decline after high consumer price inflation dashed hopes of a rate cut by the central bank at its policy meet on Monday.
At 9:26AM, the 30-share Sensex was down 207 points at 18,834 and the 50-share Nifty was down 57 points at 5,703.
According to technical experts, on the downside, the Nifty is likely to test 5,710-odd levels. In case of an up move, the Nifty may face resistance around 5,770-5,800. Today, the NSE index is likely to seek support around 5,740-5,725, while face resistance around 5,780-5,795.
US stocks fell on Wednesday and the Dow ended below 15,000 amid concerns that global central banks are curtailing their stimulus measures. The Dow ended down 127 points at 14,995 . S&P 500 ended down 14 points at 1,613 and Nasdaq Composite ended down 37 points at 3,400.
Asian markets were trading sharply lower on Thursday with Japan’s Nikkei slumping over 5% tracking weak overnight cues from the US. China's Shanghai Composite was down nearly 3% while the Hang Seng slipped 2.7%. Singapore's Straits Times and Taiwan Weighted were down over 1.2% each.
Wednesday, government data showed, the country's industrial production in April remained muted at 2% while the Consumer Price Index-based inflation continued to remain elevated at 9.31% in May.
Healthcare Index was the top loser down 2% with Sun Pharma leading the sector decline along with Auto, Bankex, Realty, Power and Metal indices.
Sun Pharma was the top Sensex loser down nearly 6% after the pharma major said that it will pay a lump-sum of $550 million to settle an ongoing litigation pending in the US for its generic pantoprazole.
In the financials segment, HDFC, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and SBI were down 0.5-1.8% each.
Maruti Suzuki was the top loser in the auto segment down 2.5% followed by Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Auto and Hero MotoCorp.
Other Sensex losers include, ITC, Reliance and Tata Motors.
Among other shares, MMTC is locked in lower circuit of 10% at Rs 190 in early trades on BSE as the government's 9.33% stake sale of country's largest trading company through offer-for-sale (OFS) commenced on the bourses. Government of India is divesting 93.31 million shares or 9.33% stake in MMTC. It has set a floor price of Rs 60, a 72% discount to Wednesday’s closing price of Rs 211 for the OFS.
Apollo Tyres was down 17% in early trades on the BSE. Apollo Tyres late Wednesday said it would acquire US-based Cooper Tire and Rubber in an all-cash transaction for $2.5 billion.
Titan Industries rebounded today was up 3.5% after the stock fell sharply on Wednesday after brokerages downgraded the stock amid concerns Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s restrictions on gold imports will affect the company’s earnings.
In the broader markets, the BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices were down 0.7-0.9% each.
Market breadth was weak with 692 losers and 248 gainers on the BSE.
