Nifty slips below 4,700-level, down 125pts

The markets are witnessing heavy selling pressure. The S&P CNX Nifty has slipped below crucial psychological level of 4,700 and has registered a fresh 52-week level. At 1245 hours the Nifty plunged 125 points at 4,683 and the BSE Sensex was down 444 points at 15,620.

According to Somil Mehta, senior technical analyst with Sharekhan, "The stocks markets are in a downtrend and are likely to remain bearish in the short-to- medium. The immediate support for the Nifty would be 4,680 and any further weakness from there on could see the Nifty sliding to 4,600."

Meanwhile, all the Sensex stocks are under intense selling pressure. HDFC Bank is the top loser, the stock has shed nearly 6% to Rs 418. J P Associates is down nearly 5% to Rs 60. Bharti Airtel, Jindal Steel, BHEL, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, Wipro, Infosys, Mahindra & Mahindra, TCS, Hindalco, SBI, Sterlite Industries and Tata Motors have fallen in the band of 3.1-4.4% each.

Among the individual stocks, Shares of Realiance Communication and Unitech are zooming in the trade after the Supreme Court granted bail to the corporate executives involved in th 2G spectrum case from these companies.

Shares of sugar companies are also trading higher, bucking the weak trend in the broader market, after the government allowed one million tonnes of sugar export.

Banking stocks are amongst the worst hit in trades thus far. BSE banking index- Bankex has slipped nearly 4% or 365 points to 9,521 levels. Oil & Gas index is also down 3.4% at 7,877 points. IT, Power, Metal, Capital Goods, Auto, PSU, FMCG and Heralthcare and FMCG stocks are also under the pressure and these indices have shed 1-3% each.

From the banking space, HDFC Bank is the top loser, down 6.2% at Rs 416. ICICI Bank also lost 4% to Rs 714. IDBI Bank, Canara bank, SBI, Axis Bank, Punjab National Bank, Bank of India, Yes Bank and Indusind Bank were also trading lower by 2-4% each.

In the oil & gas space, Essar Oil is the top loser, down 5.3% at Rs 67. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries is also down 4.5% at Rs 759. BPCL, ONGC, Indian Oil, Cairn India, Oil India, HPCL and Petronet LNG have shed 1-4% each.

The broader markets have shed 2% each. The BSE mid-cap index is down 117 points at 5,512 and the small-cap index is down 121 points at 5,959.

The overall breadth is extremely poor as 2,023 stocks are declining while a mere 525 stocks are advancing
.