Global sell-off weighs on markets

Markets across Asia and Europe decline on concerns over global economic recovery faltering; the Sensex is trading lower by 115 points at 18,301, Nifty also broke the 5500 mark trading at 5499, lower by 41 points

Most of the Asian indices also ended in the red; Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average entered into the bear market phase, declined by 1,3% to close at 8,995, Seoul Composite and Taiwan Composite also ended lower by 0.4%, Hang Seng index declined by 1.1%; However Shanghai Composite bucked the trend to close up 0.4%.

Markets in Europe are trading lower dragged by losses in mining and energy stocks. The FTSE 100 is down 1.1% at 5173. The DAX and CAC are down almost 1% each. The US futures also indicate a weak opening as Dow Jones Futures are trading down around 73 points.

Metal and Realty counters continue to sag, down 2.8% and 2.2% each; BSE Consumer Durbales bucks the trend, is up 0.4%.

Only 6 components are trading in the green on Sensex, Bharti Airtel is up 1.7%, Rcom and SBI are up over 0.5% each.

From the metal space Sterlite Industries is the top loser on Sensex, down 3.8%, followed by Hindalco, down 3.7%; from the Realty space DLF and Reliance Infra are down over 2% each.

Broader markets are extending losses, midcap and smallcap indices are down by 0.8% each.

Market breadth is negative, 1802 stocks are declining for 1122 advancing stocks.