Markets trade lower, crude weighs

Markets trade lower, crude weighs

Markets continued to trade in the red after opening lower on back of weakness in auto and realty shares. The Nifty was down 27 points, at 5815 and the Sensex fell 79 points, at 19,373.

-----------------------------------Updated at 09:30 hrs

Markets may slip into the red in opening trades on back of weak global cues and higher crude prices. The Nifty dropped 23 points, at 5818 and the Sensex was off 82 points, at 19367.

Asian markets were trading mixed in the morning session. Fresh production concerns post the earthquake in Japan weighed on Nikkei Stock Average, down 0.3% following losses in blue chip shares. Hang Seng advanced 0.1% buoyed by gains in energy shares led by higher crude oil prices. Shanghai Composite was up 0.5% led by upbeat March trade data. However, South Korea's Kospi Composite slipped 0.04%, Taiwan's weighted index was off 0.5% and Singapore's Strait Times was down 0.4%.

Back in India markets may remain subdued due to holiday thin week and the earnings season kick starting on Friday. Crude continued to remain elevated around $126/bbl (Brent crude). Sanjeev Zarbade, Vice President (Private Client Group Research), Kotak Securities said, "rising crude and the reluctance of policy makers to pass on the prices to consumers is resulting in a fiscal strain on the economy. Investors are advised to be cautious at these levels and wait for declines to make fresh buying. Staggered buying is advised at these levels." Zarbade expect markets to consolidate in the short-term after strong rally of the recent weeks.

Among the sectoral pack, interest rate sensitive shares were leading the losses. BSE Realty and Auto indices were the top sectoral losers, down over 1% each.

Ashok Leyland was down 2.3%, Apollo Tyres lost 2.1% and Tata Motors fell 1.4% from the auto pack.

Realty shares lost ground, top losers were HDIL, down 1.6%, Orbit Corporation dipped 1.5% and Unitech was off 1.4%.

Top losers on the Sensex were JP Associates, down 1.4%, Hero Honda fell 1.2% and DLF declined 1.7%. Only 8 components on the Sensex were trading in the green, Tata Power surged 1.2%, Bharti Airtel advanced 1% and Reliance Infrastructure was up 0.8%.

Broader markets were trading lower, the midcap and the small cap indices were down 0.3% and 0.1%n each.

Market breadth was negative, 542 stocks declined for 689 stocks which advanced.