Nifty in red, holds 5500

After opening in the red at 5540 level, the Nifty touched a high of 5546 and in short span turned negative and touched a low of 5513. Currently, the index is down 12 points at 5528. Anand Rathi Reserach says Nifty has to sustain above 5500 for a couple of sessions for the uptrend to stay and rule out a false breakout. Even Sensex is trading lower by 50 points at 18,404.

Positive Europe cues failed to pull Indian markets higher; European stocks are tradinng marginally higher led by gains in banking, oil and mining stocks. FTSE 100 index has risen 0.3%, CAC 40 index has climbed 0.4% and the German DAX 30 index is trading flat.

Healthcare and Oil & Gas indices are leading the sectoral pack, up 0.9% and 0.8% each.

Ranbaxy tops the heatlhcare pack, up 3% followed by Glaxosmithkline and Aurobindo pharma up almost 2.5% each

BPCL, up 2.6%, Indian Oil Corporation, HPCL and heavyweight RIL are trading higher by over 1% each pulling the Oil & gas index higher.

BSE Bankex is the top sectoral loser today, down 0.7% at 12,537; HDFC Securities Research says that BSE Bankex 14 day RSI is closer to the extreme reading of 82 in the last 2 years and investors should book long positions and selectively short.

From the Banking Space, Yes Bank has fallen by 2.6%, Union Bank & Indusind Bank have dipped by 1.9% each.

Top gainers on Sensex are Cipla and DLF are trading higher by over 1%; Deepak Singh, Technical analsyst says performance of DLF is likely to do well. The level of Rs 312 can be used as stop loss for existing long positions however Cipla does not look very encouraging and long positoins should be avoided.

Tata Motors is top loser on Sensex, down 2.1% followed by Hindalco, Bharti Airtel, Hindustan Unilever, Wipro all down by over 1% each.

The market breadth has turned negative 1,480 stocks are declining for 1,370 advancing stocks.