Nifty opens below 7,900; JSPL, Tata Power top losers

Main losers on the Sensex are Tata Power, Hindalco, Sesa Sterlite, Tata Motors and SBI

Markets have turned choppy after making a lower opening on account of selling pressure in power and select metal shares after the Supreme Court on Monday held that guidelines were breached in coal block allocations during the UPA government and that the terms of allotment, going as far back as 1993, were themselves illegal.

By 9:30, the Sensex was lower by 40 points at 26,396 mark and the Nifty slipped by 15 points at 7,891 mark.

GLOBAL MARKETS

US stocks ended higher as investors bought shares after recent data showed that the economy is on an uptick while better-than-expected earnings also boosted sentiment.

Meanwhile, the broader S&P 500 touched a fresh all-time high led by biotechnology and financials surpassing the 2,000 mark for the first time ever but closed shy of that level at 1,997.92.

The global benchmark Dow Jones ended up 0.4% at 17,076.87 while the tech-laden Nasdaq ended up 0.4% at 4,557.35.

Asian shares got off to a firm start on Tuesday as investors warmed up to the idea of more monetary stimulus by the European Central Bank to boost the sagging euro zone economy.

The euro slipped to a one-year low against the dollar as comments from ECB chief Mario Draghi late last week that the central bank was prepared to respond with all its "available" tools resonated in the market.

South Korean shares rose 0.3% and the Australian market edged up 0.2% in early trade. MSCI's dollar-denominated index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan tacked on 0.05%.

SECTORS & STOCKS

BSE Power Index has slumped by over 1% followed by other sectors like Auto, Banks, Capital Goods,  Metal, Oil & Gas and Realty, all declining between 0.1-1%. However, FMCG index has gained by nearly 1%.

The main losers in the Sensex are Tata Power, Hindalco, Sesa Sterlite, Tata Motors, SBI, BHEL, M&M, L&T and Bajaj Auto.

Power and select metal shares are under pressure after the Supreme Court's crack down on coal block allocation. As a result, Hindalco, Sesa Sterlite and Tata Power have slumped 2-4% and are the top losers in the Sensex pack. JSPL has slumped by almsot 6%.

However, Tata Steel rebounded from its Monday's lows while Coal India, Cipla, Sun Pharma and ITC have gained between 1-2% each.

Among the broader markets, BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices slipped by almost 0.2%.

The market breadth in BSE remains marginally negative with 723 shares declining and 681 shares advancing.