Nifty opens below 200-DMA; financials drag

Markets opened lower amid weak global cues after weaker-than-expected US manufacturing data

Markets opened lower on Tuesday, amid weak global cues, after global markets witnessed a sell-off on lower-than-expected manufacturing data in the US.

At 9:30AM, the 30-share Sensex was down 201 points at 20,008 and the 50-share Nifty was trading at a 3-month low down 58 points at 5,944 way below its 200-DMA of 5,970. 

U.S. stocks slumped on Monday, with the S&P 500 suffering its worst drop since June, after weaker-than-expected data on the factory sector in the world's largest economy provided investors with the latest reason to move away from riskier assets.

U.S. manufacturing grew at a slower pace in January as new order growth plunged by the most in 33 years, while spending on construction projects barely rose in December. The January ISM index declined sharply to 51.3 compared with 56.5 December.

Investor sentiment soured sharply after the factory data, driving the cost of protection against a drop on the S&P to its highest level in nearly four months. The CBOE volatility index .VIX jumped 16.5 percent to 21.44, its highest level since December 2012.

Asian shares tumbled on Tuesday though the dollar regained some footing, after disappointing US manufacturing data cast a pall over Wall Street and gave investors little reason to hope for stability in emerging markets after their recent rout.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell about 1.4% at its lowest level since early September.

Japan's Nikkei stock average lost 2.9%, extending its declines into a fourth session on the back of weak manufacturing data from the US.

All sectoral indices on the BSE were trading in negative terrain. BSE Metal index was the top loser among the sectoral indices down 1.9% followed by IT, Realty, Bankex, Capital Goods.

Among the rate sensitive shares financials were among the top losers with HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, AXis Bank and SBI were down 1-1.5% each. The Bank Nifty was trading below 10,000 at 9,984.

IT shares which had remained range bound in the previous sessions also witnessed profit taking in early trades with Infosys, TCS and Wipro down 1-2% each.

Other Sensex losers include, M&M, L&T and index heavyweight Reliance Industries. However, Cipla and Tata Motors were the sole gainers in the Sensex as of now.

The BSE Mid-cap index was down 0.9% and the Small-cap index was down 0.7%.

Market breadth was weak with 765 losers and 292 gainers on the BSE.