Weak trend persists, index heavyweights drag

Markets continue to remain weak in the first hour of trade tracking their peers weighed down by profit taking in index heavyweights.

At 10:24AM, the 30-share Sensex was down 141 points at 19,427 and the 50-share Nifty was down 43 points at 5,881.

All Asian stock indices were in the red with the Nikkei down over 1%. Japan's benchmark index Nikkei has been volatile since early trades today. Hang Seng, Straits Times, Kospi and Taiwan Weighted were down over 1% each while Shanghai Composite was marginally down 0.1%.

Among the index heavyweights, ITC, Infosys and Reliance Industries were down over 1% each. In the financials space, HDFC, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and SBI were down 0.2-1.4% each.

Among other shares, Infinite Computer gained nearly 2% to Rs 94.20 after announcing the buyback of its own equity shares from the public shareholders.

Shares of Mukand rose over 2% in morning trades this Thursday ahead of the board meeting later today to consider rights issue of shares.

Zuari Agro gained 7% after the fertiliser and seeds company  said that it has resumed production of urea/ammonia. The company had shutdown its urea/ammonia plant from March 24 for annual maintenance.

Shares of Titan Industries, Tribhovandas Bhimji and other jewellery makers declined in early morning trades after the government today increased Customs duty on gold by two percentage points, to eight per cent.

Shree Ganesh Jewellery (SGJHL) , engaged in manufacturing and exports of gold and diamond jewellery has gained by nearly 5% after the company announced that the board has allotted 58,00,000 equity shares at Rs 150 per share (which includes a premium of Rs 140 per share) to the promoters/promoter group.

In the broader markets, the BSE Mid-cap index was down 0.2% and the Small-cap index was down 0.1%.

Market breadth was weak with 938 losers and 619 gainers on the BSE.
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(Updated at 9:33AM)

Markets slipped further in early trades on Thursday, amid weak global cues, with financials and ITC shares leading the decline.

At 9:33am, the 30-share Sensex was down 113 points at 19,455 and the 50-share Nifty was down 37 points at 5,887.

Further, market data indicates that foreign institutional investors which were net buyers so far have built up short positions over the past four trading sessions.

Benchmark US share indices ended over 1.2 per cent lower on Wednesday on worries that the US Federal Reserve may start reducing its stimulus even as the slowdown in the economy continues.The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 217 points or 1.4 per cent at 14,960. S&P 500 ended down 22 points or 1.4 per cent at 1,609 and Nasdaq Composite ended down 44 points or 1.3 per cent at 3,401.

Stocks in Asia were trading lower on Thursday amid weak overnight cues from the US. The Nikkei remained volatile and pared early gains to trade 0.1% up while Hang Seng was down 1.1% and Shanghai Composite was trading flat with a negative bias. South Korea's KOSPI was down 1.5 per cent, Straits Times slipped 1.3 per cent while Taiwan Weighted was down 0.9 per cent.

Realty index was the top loser among the sectoral indices on the BSE down 1.1% followed by Metal, Bankex, Oil and Gas, Power and Auto indices among others.

Among the index heavyweights, ITC was down 0.8% while Reliance Industries was down 0.5% ahead of its AGM later today as shareholders are seeking answers to the performance of the company's oil and gas exploration and production business.

In the financial pack , mortgage lender HDFC was down 1.2% while HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and SBI were down 0.4-0.5% each.

Software major Infosys was down 0.6% on profit taking after recent gains early this week following the induction of co-founder NR Narayana Murthy as executive chairman of the company.
 
In the broader market BSE Mid-cap index was down 0.3% and the Small-cap index was trading flat with a positive bias.

Market breadth weakened further with 559 losers and 376 gainers on the BSE.