Sensex falls 100 pts; banks & index heavyweights drag

The main losers on the Sensex are Axis Bank, Hindalco, Tata Power, Tata Steel, Wipro, GAIL, ONGC and SBI

Benchmark indices have erased early gains and are trading near day’s low weighed down by financials and index heavyweight shares like RIL, Infosys and ITC.

At 11:00AM, the 30-share Sensex was down 98 points at 20,689 and the 50-share Nifty was down 33 points at 6,158.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 318.91 crore on Monday as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

Adds Mudit Goyal, technical analyst, SMC Global, “Technically, Nifty has given the breakdown of upward sloping resistance line and also manages to close below the same. So, more downside can be witnessed in coming days upto 6100 levels and on the upper side, 6250 is near term resistance mark.”    

On the global front, Asian shares stabilised on Tuesday after four straight days of losses, while the dollar rebounded after overnight weakness on disappointing U.S. services sector data that raised concerns about stuttering growth in the world's largest economy.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat, not far from a three-week low touched on Monday.

Japan's Nikkei index shed 0.5%, adding to a 2.4% slide on Monday, its first trading day of 2014.

Back home, the rupee is trading marginally lower at 62.37/38 versus its close of 62.31/32 on Monday, tracking largely steady regional stock markets. Traders are looking ahead to the inflation data next week for a clearer direction.

On the sectoral front, BSE Bankex, Realty, Power, Oil & Gas, IT and Metal indices have plunged by 1% each. Howecer, BSE Auto and Capital Goods indices are trading marginally positive.

The main losers on the Sensex at this hour include Axis Bank, Hindalco, Tata Power, Tata Steel, Wipro, GAIL, ONGC and SBI.

On the gaining side, Maruti Suzuki, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy’s Lab, BHEL and L&T have gained between 0.3-2%.

Maruti Suzuki India rose 1.09% to Rs 1,826.85 extending Monday's 0.48% rise triggered by foreign brokerages raising their target price on the stock.

Among other shares, Zuari Agro Chemicals has soared 10% to Rs 166, extending its previous day’s 5% rally, on reports that Zuari Fertilisers & Chemicals is planning to divest its entire stake in Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers (MCF).

Claris Lifesciences is trading higher by 2% at Rs 202 ahead of board meeting today to consider a share buyback proposal. The board will also consider an interim dividend to exiting equity shareholders.

The market breadth in BSE remains marginally positive with 911 shares advancing and 837 shares declining.