A state of hibernation

The benchmark indices have been in a dormant state in the past hour. The markets had a gap-down opening on global worries after Greece and Portugal saw a downgrade in their debt ratings. After an immediate retracement of the losses, albeit parial, the markets settled mid-way between the highs and lows of the day have been hovering there since then. The Sensex is down 146 points at 17,543 and the Nifty is down 45 points at 5,263.

There is activity in select pockets though. The banking sector has recovered from the day's lows. SBI is now up more than 0.9% at Rs 2337. Investors seem to be flocking to the FMCG space as it is perceived as a defensive bet in a falling market. Hindustan Unilever has added nearly 1% at Rs 243 and ITC has edged higher at Rs 270. And the ADAG scrips are also seeing action. RNRL has galloped by 7.9% at Rs 67, while Reliance Power has added 1.1% at Rs 159 and Reliance Capital is up 0.1% at Rs 738.

On the other hand, Jaiprakash Associates has weakened by 3.5% at Rs 147, while RIL has shed 2.5% at Rs 1034 and Hindalco has lost 2.3% at Rs 179. And the high-beta realty space is weak, with Sobha Developers, Unitech and HDIL losing upto 3% each.

The BSE market breadth is negative. Out of 2,856 stocks traded, 1,862 have declined while 909 have advanced.