Sensex down nearly 150 points; Smallcap index up 1%

Benchmark indices have extended losses weighed down by financials and auto shares.

At 14:35 AM, the 30-share was down 128 points at 26,948 and the 50-share Nifty was down 39 points at 8,069.

The broader markets are outperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices have gained between 0.2-1%.

The market breadth on BSE remained firm with 1,651 shares advancing and 1,215 shares declining.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1697.74 crore on Thursday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

INDIAN RUPEE

The rupee is trading at 60.43/44 versus its previous close of 60.3550/3650.

The USD/INR pair is sustaining gains despite monetary stimulus by the ECB as most funding in India remains dollar denominated, say traders.

GLOBAL MARKETS

Japan's Nikkei share average edged down on Friday in choppy trade, but declines were limited as the mood was supported after the dollar rose to a six-year high against the yen following the European Central Bank's monetary easing steps.

The Nikkei dropped 0.1% to 15,668.68, close to a seven-month high of 15,829.38 hit on Wednesday. For the week, the index rose 1.6%. The broader Topix declined 0.3 percent to 1,293.21, and the new JPX-Nikkei Index 400 shed 0.3% to 11,732.03.

The ECB cut interest rates to fresh record lows and announced plans to buy asset-backed securities (ABS) and covered bonds in October.

SECTORS & STOCKS

BSE Auto, Bankex, FMCG, Healthcare and Power indices have declined between 0.2-1%. However, However, BSE Realty, Metal, Oil & Gas and Power indices have gained by 1% each.

The main losers on the Sensex are HDFC, Coal India, BHEL, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel and Hero Moto.

Select banks which had gained following upbeat economic data witnessed profit taking. However, SBI has gained by over 1%.

On the gaining side, Bajaj Auto, Sesa Sterlite, L&T, ONGC and Tata Steel have gained between 1-2%.

L&T has gained after the company secured a turnkey order worth Rs 5,100 crore for setting up a 1320 MW supercritical thermal power plant  project at Shree Sinaji TPP (Stage-II) on complete engineering-procurement construction basis from the state utility MP Power Genertaing Company Limited (MPPGCL).

Among other shares, Suven Life Sciences zoomed 17% to Rs 204, extending its previous 7% gain, after the company said it received one product patent each in three countries.