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Markets have turned weak after making a flat opening tracking mixed global cues.
By 9:25, the Sensex was lower by 80 points at 28,390 and the Nifty slipped 34 points at 8,601.
Indian equities, currency and bond markets heaved a sigh of relief, along with other global markets, following the US Federal Reserve's dovish statement and its indication it wouldn't rush to raise interest rates from their current near-zero levels.
Stock markets, however, failed to hold on to gains as investors turned edgy due to the lack of positive domestic triggers and weak earnings forecast.
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1,428.72 crore yesterday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 53.46 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.
GLOBAL MARKETS
US share indices ended mixed on Thursday after the strengthening dollar led to profit taking in material shares while energy shares declined tracking losses in crude oil prices.
The Dow Jones industrial average ended down 117 points at 17,959.03, the broader S&P 500 ended down 10 points at 2,089.27. However, the tech-laden Nasdaq ended 10 points higher at 4,992.38 led by biotech shares.
Asian stocks slipped on Friday as Federal Reserve-inspired gains petered out, while the dollar steadied after rebounding from the shock of a surprisingly dovish US central bank.
Japan's Nikkei shed 0.2% and South Korean and Australian shares posted similar losses.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was little changed after rallying 1.3% the previous day.
SECTORS & STOCKS
BSE Power index has slumped over 1% followed by counters like Auto, Bank, FMCG, Metal, Oil & Gas and Realty, all declining marginally. However, BSE Healthcare index has surged nearly 1%.
NTPC is the top Sensex loser, down nearly 8% after the stock turned ex-scheme of arrangement today.
As per scheme of arrangement, the existing shareholders will get bonus debentures of face value of Rs 12.50 each against each equity shares of Rs 10 held by its members..
The issue of debentures, record date for which is March 23, will also be the first one by a public-sector company for rewarding shareholders, say NTPC executives.
The state-owned electric utilities company had fixed March 23, 2015, as the record date for determining the members /shareholders to whom the Debentures will be allotted in terms of this Scheme.
Other notable losers are GAIL, Tata Motors, HUL, HDFC and Axis Bank, all dipping between 1-2%.
HDFC has announced that the board of directors of the company at its meeting held on 19 March 2015, inter alia, has approved the payment of an interim dividend of Rs 2 per share for the financial year ending 31 March 2015 (FY 2015).
Axis Bank has cut retail deposit rates by 15-25 basis points (bps) in select maturities. The bank has cut rates by 25 bps for deposits of 18 to 36 months and by 15 bps for deposits up to 18 months.
On the gaining side, Sun Pharma, Wipro, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Cipla and Bajaj Auto have risen between 0.4-1%.
Among broader markets, BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are down 0.2% each.
