Sensex down over 100 pts; broader markets outperform

Benchmark indices have extended the losses weighed down by FMCG, financials and index heavyweight Reliance Inds shares.

By 10:05, the Sensex was lower by 132 points 20,090 mark and the Nifty dipped by 37 points at 5,964 levels.

Adds Mudit Goyal, technical analyst, SMC Global, "As per the charts, short covering can be witness from current levels upto 6050-6080 levels which would be consider as selling opportunity for near term. Close short above 6100 levels. Near term resistance is seen around 6050-6080 levels and key support is seen around 5880 levels."

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 1234.02 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

On the global front, Asian shares got a welcome reprieve from selling on Wednesday as Wall Street steadied and investors in emerging markets found some backbone, which took some of the starch out of safe-haven bonds and the yen.

Still, the gains were modest and dealers cautioned that the mood remained brittle and it would only take a poor US payrolls report on Friday to set the bears running again.

For now, the Nikkei managed to rally 1.5% to 14,221 after a couple of days of punishing selling. But it faces stiff resistance at the 200-day moving average of 14,425, while there is a large gap to fill between Monday's close and Tuesday's opening.

Back home, the rupee is trading at 62.36/37 versus its close of 62.5250/5350, tracking weakness in the dollar versus majors and other Asian currencies. The index of the dollar against six majors was down 0.5%.

Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL), Ranbaxy Laboratories and Power Grid Corporation of India will announce Q3 results today.

On the sectoral front, BSE FMCG, Oil & Gas and Power indices have plunged by 1% each followed by counters like Banks, Capital Goods, Auto and Consumer Durables, all declining marginally. However, BSE Realty, Metal, IT and Consumer Durables indices are trading marginally positive.

The main losers on the Sensex at this hour include NTPC, ITC, BHEL, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel, HUL, Hindalco, RIL and ICICI Bank.

On the gaining side, Tata Steel, Wipro, Sun Pharma and TCS have gained between 0.5-1.4%.

Among other shares, Power Finance Corporation has gained by 3.51% to Rs 142.85 after net profit rose 37.35% to Rs 1534.31 crore on 24.2% increase in operating income to Rs 5547.16 crore in Q3 December 2013 over Q3 December 2012.

HEG has spurted 6.6% to Rs 210.10 after net profit jumped 284.6% to Rs 44.31 crore on 21% growth in net sales to Rs 423.69 crore in Q3 December 2013 over Q3 December 2012.

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

The market breadth in BSE remains positive with 812 shares advancing and 524 shares declining.