Markets off day lows, IT gains

Wipro, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddys Lab, Infosys and Bharti Airtel gaining 0.5-1.8% among the top gainers

Markets have recovered marginally from day lows on the back of buying interest in pockets like IT names like Infosys, Wipro and Sum Pharma. At 1300 hrs, the Sensex was down 198 points at 19,298 and the Nifty slipped 65 points to trade at 5,803.

Earlier in the day, the Sensex had slipped to a low of 19,186 and the Nifty was at a low of 5,775.

The broader markets too were in the red with the mid and smallcap indices losing 0.3-0.5% as compared to the 1% slip seen on the BSE benchmark index.

The rupee fell to a record low today, forcing the RBI to come to its defense, while bond yields surged, highlighting the vulnerability of a country dependant on capital inflows to fund its big current account deficit. At 1300hrs, the Rupee was at 61.18.

The rupee's slide to an all-time low of 61.21 is sparking speculation about potential measures from the Reserve Bank of India, including providing a special window for oil companies to buy dollars.

Asian shares tumbled on Monday as strong U.S. jobs growth increased the chances of the Federal Reserve rolling back its stimulus in coming months, sending the dollar to a three-year high against a basket of major currencies.

Chinese stocks and regional sentiment were hurt by Beijing's plan to choke off credit to force consolidation in industries plagued by overcapacity as it seeks to end the economy's reliance on investment funded by cheap debt.

Shares in MSCI's Asia-Pacific ex-Japan index shed 1.8% to a two-week low, while Chinese equities lost 2.2% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 2.1%.

The weakness in Chinese markets dragged Tokyo's Nikkei average down 1.4%. Earlier, the Japanese benchmark climbed as much as 1.3% to a six-week high.

However, the European markets opened higher, with all the major indices- CAC, DAX and FTSE trading 1% higher.

Back home, all the sectoral indices except IT, Teck and Health Care indices were trading higher with gains between 0.1-.6 %. Among the ones in the red were Realty, PSU, Oil & Gas, metal, Auto and Bankex indices losing 1% each.

The only gainers among the Sensex-30 were Wipro, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddys Lab, Infosys and Bharti Airtel gaining 0.5-1.8%.

Among the ones in the red were Tata Motors and HDFC down 3% each were the top losers.

Tata Motors was trading lower on reports that the production line at Jaguar Land Rover facilities in the UK may get impacted after delivery workers from DHL voted for a strike.

The other notable losers were Coal India, ONGC, ICICI Bank, NTPC, BHEL, Jindal Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, SBI, Bajaj Auto and Sterlite losing 1-2.5%.

In other stocks, shares of state-owned oil marketing companies are trading lower by up to 5% on the bourses after the rupee hit a record low of Rs 61.21 against dollar in early trades today.

All three listed oil marketing companies Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) were down in the range of 2-5%.

The market breadth was very negative. 1,220 stocks declined while 813 stocks advanced on the BSE.