Markets remain under pressure

There has been no let-up in the selling pressure this afternoon. The Sensex is quoting at 18329, lower by 140 points and the Nifty is at 5491, down 39 points. The midcap index is at 6592, down 12 points and the smallcap index is at 7999, down 12 points.

The markets had started the day on a weak footing in line with the unenthusing cues from the global market front and the lingering weakness across the Asian Street has effectively negated any hopes of a bounceback following the encouraging inflation and export figures. 

On the global front, the Shanghai, Nikkei and Taiwan are down more than a percent each, while other Asian peers have slid by upto a percent in the closing hours of trade. But there was some cheer on the home front in terms of easing food inflation and jump in exports. The food price index rose an annual 9.52% in the week to February 26, slower than a 10.39% rise in the previous week as prices of vegetables, potatoes and rice declined, data showed on Thursday. And exports went up by 49.8% year-on-year to $23.6 billion in February on the back of increased demand from markets such as North America, Asia and Africa.

The top losers on the Sensex are Hindalco (has weakened by 2.4% at Rs 207), Tata Power (has slid by 1.9% at Rs 1204) and ICICI Bank (has lost 1.7% at Rs 1015). NTPC, SBI and Tata Steel are the other significant losers.

On the other hand, Hero Honda has strengthened by 1.25 at Rs 1553, Reliance Infra has gained 1% at Rs 627 and RCom has extended its previous session's gains by adding another 0.7% at Rs 100.

The market breadth is negative. Out of 2731 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1135 advancing stocks as against 1477 declines.