Nifty tests 5500; breadth extremely -ve

After breaking its 200-DMA yesterday, the Nifty has now cracked below yet another physchological mark of 5500. The NSE benchmark index has now shed 108 points at 5496.

Meanwhile, unabated selling in the markets has seen the Sensex shave off 339 points at 18,344. Selling is seen across the board, with auto, realy and consumer durable stocks bearing brunt of the selling.

Mahindra & Mahindra continued to remain the top loser on the Sensex, the stock was down 6.5% at Rs 685. DLF shed 6% at Rs 225. Tata Motors was down 5% Rs 1136.

BHEL, Hindalco, Jaiprakash Associates, HDFC, Larsen & Toubro, Sterlite Industries, Hero Honda, Bajaj Auto and Maruti Suzuki were also among the losers down 2-4% each. On the other hand Infosys, ONGC, Bharti Airtel, Wipro, ITC and HDFC Bank continue to hold gains.

All the sectoral indices were in the red. Realty, consumer durable, auto, capital goods and metal stocks witnessed heavy selling pressure. The BSE Realty index was down 4.7% or 113 points at 2285. Consumer Durable index has shed 4.6% or 287 points at 5876. Auto index was lower by 4% or 383 points at 8785. Capital Goods, Metal, Healthcare and Power indices were down 2.3-3% each.

Bankex, PSU and Oil & Gas were also lower by 1.6-2% each. Meanwhile IT and Teck indices which were trading in the green also slipped into the red.

HDIL led the losers chart among the realty stocks, down 9% at Rs 141 followed by DLF, Orbit Corp, Indiabulls Real Estate, Anant Raj Industries, DB Realty and Unitech, down 4-6% each.

Blue Star was the top lopser among the consumer durable stocks, the stock was down 11% and was trading at Rs 351. Whirlpool, Titan Industries, Gitanjali Gems, Rajesh Exports and Videocon Industries were also among the losers on the charts.

Among the Auto stocks Mahindra & Mahindra, Ashok Leyland, Apollo Tyres, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Hero Honda and Bharat Forge were the top losers.

The broader markets were also under the intense selling pressure, the BSE mid-cap index was down 2.8% or 203 points at 6883 and the small-cap index lost 2.95% or 261 points at 8602.

Blue Star, Shree Global Tradefin, Nagarjuna Construction Company, IVRCL Infra, Sanwaria Agro, Cholamandalam Investment Services and S Kumar Nation were the top losers on the mid-cap charts.

Among the small-cap stocks Camlin, Ess Dee Aluminium, Well Pack Papers, Nahar Industrial Enterprises, Aqua Logistics, Manali Petro and Hercules Hoists were the top losers.

The overall market breadth continued to remain extremely negative as 2250 stocks declined while 484 stocks advanced.