Sensex falls 100 points, Nifty below 7,700; metal shares drag

Vedanta, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, Dr Reddy's Labs, Sun Pharma and Hero Moto are the top Sensex losers

Markets continue to trade marginally lower tracking weak global cues along with selling pressure among select pharma and metal shares leading the decline.

At 10:40 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was lower by 133 points at 25,177 and the Nifty50 has slipped 44 points at 7,658.

The S&P BSE Sensex, and the Nifty50, both have hit their lowest level in more than 13 weeks. The Sensex has hit its lowest level since 8 September 2015.

The top losers from the Sensex pack are Dr Reddy’s Labs, Bharti Airtel, Vedanta, Sun Pharma and Hero Moto, all slumping between 1-2%.

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Markets have extended losses for sixth straight session and commenced marginally weak tracking negative global cues.

At 9:30 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was lower by 30 points at 25,280 and the Nifty50 has slipped 11 points at 7,690 mark. Among broader markets, BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are down over 0.3%. 

Yesterday, markets plunged to a three- month low as the Sensex on a fifth straight session slipped by 220 points after domestic commodity stocks took a beating on multi-year low oil prices while fresh concerns over passing of key reform bills mainly GST added to the rout.

According to Angel Broking market report, "If the Nifty index manages to sustain below yesterday's low then we may witness a continuation of this slide towards 7,660 – 7,620 levels. On the flipside, if the Nifty manages to maintain its position above the 7,700 mark then an immediate bounce towards 7,750 – 7,780 levels cannot be rules out. Traders are advised to stay light on positions as the market is lacking a clear direction."

Among global peers, Asian stock markets risked slipping to two-month lows on Wednesday as crumbling oil prices took a toll on energy and resource shares, with cooling demand from China putting more pressure on resources-reliant economies.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat but stood barely above its November trough, a break of which would take it to its lowest level since early October.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 518.46 crore yesterday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.

Among stocks, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Vedanta, Bharti Airtel, Hindalco, GAIL and Coal India have plunged between 1-3%.

Dr Reddy’s Labs has slumped almost 3%. The drug maker has informed the BSE that it has submitted response to the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) on Monday. This was in reply to the critical observations made in respect of three of the company's manufacturing facilities by the US drug regulator in a warning letter issued to the company on November 5.

Metal shares continue to reel under selling pressure due to weak Chinese trade data for the month of November. Vedanta, Coal India and Hindalco are down 1-2%.

Bharti Airtel will roll out 4G services in Rajasthan in few days. Shares of the telecom operator is down over 2%.

YES Bank is trading higher by over 1%. India’s fifth largest private bank has announced that it would mobilize $5 billion towards climate finance by 2020 to help India meet its target of Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs).

With Reuters input