Global weakness drags down markets

The markets lost ground on Tuesday, after touching a one-month high, due to subdued global cues and nervousness surrounding the derivatives expiry.

The Asian markets ended about one per cent lower on the back of a slide in Chinese markets. China shed more than three per cent, after cautioning its banks to control their lending activities. Europe was dragged down in early trades by banking and commodity shares.

The US stock futures pointed to a lower opening on Wall Street, ahead of the economic data on consumer confidence and home prices to be announced later in the day.

And with the near-month derivatives series coming to an end on Thursday, traders have started rolling over their positions in the F&O segment.

The benchmark indices opened positive in line with the firm US markets, but were unable to hold their heads above water. There were intermittent attempts at a pullback, only to be met with resistance around the previous day's close.

Finally, the Sensex ended with a loss of 49 points at 17,131 and the Nifty settled at 5,091, down 13 points.

The metals, FMCG and oil pack shed nearly one per cent. Tata Steel was the major loser, dropping 2.8 per cent to Rs 557. Reliance Infrastructure and ITC slipped over two per cent each to Rs 1,069 and Rs 264, respectively. Sterlite, too, shed nearly two per cent at Rs 855.

Reliance Industries slipped after a sharp up move on Monday and ITC saw profit-booking after touching a 52-week high on the previous day.

Auto, select banking and information technology stocks, however, bucked the trend. Maruti surged 2.7 per cent to Rs 1,599, Mahindra & Mahindra moved up 2.4 per cent to Rs 1,067 and Hero Honda rallied over 2 per cent to Rs 1,688.

The market breadth was neutral. Of 2,826 stocks traded, 1,368 advanced and 1,371 declined.

Dinesh Thakkar, CEO, Angel Broking said: “The Nifty is likely to consolidate between 4,800 and 5,200 in the next two to three months, as the fundamentals are already priced in and there are no positive triggers on the anvil.”

“The markets should take off thereafter, as they factor in the 2010-2011 numbers, which should be excellent,” he added.