Sensex down over 100 pts, financials weigh

 

Markets extended losses in noon trades on Friday weighed down by selling pressure in financials and FMCG shares.

At 12:15AM, the 30-share Sensex was down 132 points at 19762 and the 50-share Nifty was down 34 points at 5,848.

HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and HDFC were among the top Sensex losers in the financial space.

FMCG majors ITC and Hindustan Unilever were also among the top losers in the Sensex.

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Updated at 11:30AM

Markets continued to trade lower in the late-morning session this Friay on back of selling pressure witnessed in banking stocks.

At 11:30AM, 30-share Sensex fell 65 points at 19,828 while the 50-share Nifty declined 15 points at 5,867.

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Updated at 10:30AM

Benchmark indices are trading on a marginally weak note amid volatility weighed down by financial shares.

By 10:25, the Sensex was lower by 70 points at 19,824 mark and the Nifty dropped by 19 points at 5,863 levels.

According to Mohit Gaba, Independent technical analyst & trader, “the range for the Nifty is 5800 - 5950, this is a wide range, but until we do not break out of this range we should not look at positional trades on the Nifty”.

On the global front, Asian shares ticked up on Friday after US jobless claims data pointed to an improving labour market, but the lack of progress in budget and debt negotiations in Washington kept investors on edge.

The solid jobs data revived expectations of a reduction in US monetary stimulus, but not without reservation, after the Federal Reserve's surprise decision not to do so last week and conflicting messages from various top Fed officials since then.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.1%, with Australian shares scaling a five-year high, in sympathy with Wall Street shares, which broke a five-day losing streak on Thursday.

Back home, rupee continued to strengthen for the third day today, trading above the Rs 62/dollar in early trade.

At 9:50am, the rupee was trading at Rs 61.93 compared with previous close of Rs 62.08 per dollar.

On the sectoral front, BSE Bankex has plunged by nearly 2% followed by counters like Metal, Power, Consumer Durables and FMCG, all declining marginally. However, BSE Oil & Gas, IT and Healthcare indices have gained by 1% each.

From the financial space, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, SBI and HDFC have plummeted between 1-2%.

Dr Reddy’s Laboratories is trading lower by 1% at Rs 2,432 on NSE after the pharmaceutical company loses the Lunesta patent case in U.S.

Other notable losers are BHEL, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, ITC and Hindalco.

On the gaining side, Hero Moto, Sun Pharma, ONGC, Maruti Suzuki and Infosys have gained between 1-2%.

LIC, the country’s largest insurer, has reduced its stake in IT bellwether company Infosys by about 2%. LIC’s stake in Infosys now stands at 5% down from 7% earlier.

Shares of shipping companies are continue at their upward march and rallied up to 14% second day in a row after the Baltic Dry Index touched its highest level since December 23, 2011 on Wednesday.

ABG Shipyard, Bharati Shipyard, Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), Mercator, Great Eastern Shipping Company and Varun Shipping Company are up 3-18% on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) has surged nearly 8% to Rs 333 on NSE reports that a drilling campaign off Brazil's northeastern coast showed that an area control by the consortium of IBV Brazil likely hold more than a billion barrels of oil.

The broader markets are outperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap & Smallcap indices up 0.3-0.4%.

The market breadth in BSE remains positive with 848 shares advancing and 642 shares declining.