Markets trim losses, IT index trades flat

Banking, metal and realty shares among key losers, Jindal Steel slumps 15%

Markets have recoeverd from the lows of the day with continued pressure seen in consumer durables and metal shares. BSE Sensex  declined 197 points or 1% at 19,245. Earlier in the day, the index had touched a low of 19,121. Nifty was down 52 points at 5,826.

Broader markets underperformed. The BSE mid-cap index shed 1.5% at 6240. Small-cap index was down nearly 2% at 5,805.

The Nikkei share average fell on Tuesday after the Bank Of Japan did not offer new measures to calm the bond market, while real estate stocks stumbled as investors who had expected a programme to buy J-Reits sold to take profits. The Nikkei dropped 1.5 percent to 13,317.62 points after trading as low as 13,296.

BSE IT index was the sole sectoral index in the green - trading flat at 6,207. IT shares gained as rupee continued its downward slide and touched an all time low of 58.46 - down 31 paise from Monday's close. The rupee's fall effects software shares as US is the biggest market for software service providers like TCS and Infosys.

" The IT is the only sector which is showing some resemblance of a bounce, clearly due to the rupee play in action. I think HCLTECH is forming a double bottom on hourly charts and looks like could trend till 785-790 levels in the next couple of days. Infy is also bouncing from its 50 DMA (Simple). I think a 2-3% further jump in these stocks is possible," said Kunal Bothra, Technical Analyst, LKP Securities.

Meanwhile, BSE consumer durables index shed 3.6% at 6,970. The metal index slipped 3.5%, followed by realty, power and auto indices. Financials were also weak ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy review slated for June 17, 2013.

Jindal Steel was the top Sensex loser - crashing 15% at Rs 227. According to reports, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case against Jindal Steel and Power Ltd over coal block allocations.

Tata Power shed 5%, followed by Hindalco, ICICI Bank and Mahindra & Mahindra. On the other hand, Cipla added 1.5% at Rs 379. Gail India and NTPC addded 1% each as did auto shares like Bajaj Auto and Hero MotoCorp.

Reliance Communications has extended Monday's loss and dropped 6% at Rs 104, a day after Reliance Jio Infocomm (RJI), the telecom arm of Reliance Industries, has entered into a definitive agreement with the company, for sharing tower infrastructure. The aggregate value of the deal is Rs 12,000 crore over the lifetime of the agreement.

BSE market breadth was weak. Out of 2,285 stocks traded, 1,611 shares declined while 547 shares advanced in trades.