Global cues drag markets; Sensex down 100 points

Markets have opened on a weak footing this morning as the global markets turned skittish overnight. The Sensex is quoting at  22,581, down 134 points and the Nifty is at 6750, down 47 points. The broader markets, which have been buzzing in the recent past, have actually rebounded into the green after opening in a spot of bother. The midcap index is at 7334, up three points and the smallcap index is unchanged at 7475.  

 

The markets had witnessed fresh record closing highs, despite a consolidation-laden flat closing, on Thursday, with the Sensex inching higher by 12 points and the Nifty ending virtually unchanged. 

 

Overnight, the Nasdaq suffered its biggest drop in two-and-a-half years on Thursday after another sharp selloff in biotech and momentum names. The S&P 500 also posted its biggest percentage loss since February 3, while the Nasdaq has dropped 7% from its closing high for the year, set on March 5. The Dow Jones industrial average plummeted by 266 points or 1.62% to end at 16,170. The S&P 500 lost 2%, to close at 1,833. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 129 points or 3.1% - its biggest daily average loss since November 9, 2011 - to 4,054.

 

The European shares also closed lower, after fluctuating through most of the day, as investors grew nervous ahead of the upcoming first quarter earnings season. 

 

The Asian markets have taken it on the chin this morning, with the Japanese shares down to six-month lows as an escalating selloff on Wall Street spread to Asia. Japan's Nikkei tumbled 2% or 298 points at 14,001. Singapore's Straits Times declined 0.4% or 15 points at 3,188. South Korea's Seoul Composite shed 0.9% or 17 points at 1,990. Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted fell 0.5% or 45 points at 8,902. China's Shanghai Composite was flat at 2,136 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was flat at 23,175.

 

The VIX or volatility index has spiralled by 27% this week, which is possibly a portender of things to come.

 

Hindalco has weakened by 1.4% as Rs 140 to emerge as the top loser on the BSE. The financials are also seeing profit-booking after the run-up in the recent past. HDFC  has shed 1.4% at Rs 914, ICICI Bank has lost 0.7% at Rs 1236 and SBI has lost 0.7% at Rs 2012. IT stocks have rebounded from the lows of the day; Infosys and TCS are trading flat, with a negative bias, at Rs 3204 and Rs 2125 respectively.

 

On the other hand, the pharma stocks have bucked the negative trend. Sun Pharma has gained 1.5% at Rs 625 and Cipla has added 0.8% at Rs 400.

 

The market breadth is weak. Out of 1318 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 596 advancing stocks as against 669 declines.