Markets remain under pressure

The weakness continues unabated as we enter into the last trading hour of the day. If anything, the selling pressure seems to have only intensified, dragging the benchmark indices to the lowest point of the day, thanks to the impending expiry of the January derivatives series and the continuing concerns on the inflation front. The Sensex is quoting at 18790, lower by 179 points and the Nifty is at 5634, down 52 points.

M&M slid by 4.1% at Rs 730 to emerge as the top loser on the BSE. Sterlite has shed 4% at Rs 171 and DLF has lost 3.5% at Rs 244. Bharti Airtel, Hindustan Unilever and Cipla are the other significant losrs on the BSE. And index heavyweight RIL has lost another 0.7% at Rs 951.

On the gainers side, Tata Motors has jumped 2% at Rs 1188, Baja Auto has gained 1% at Rs 1308 and Jaiprakash Associates has added 0.8% at Rs 91.

The market breadth was negative. Out of 2885 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1051 advancing stocks as against 1719 declines.