Selling pressure continues, Nifty tests 4,800 mark

Auto index down over 3%

Benchmark indices continue to trade lower with the Sensex and the Nifty declining by over 1% each. Weak global markets and Rupee hitting all time low have weighed on the investor sentiment as selling was across the sectors.

The Sensex was down 212 points at 15,858 and the Nifty was down 67 points at 4,803. Thus far, the Sensex had touched an intra-low of 15,809 and the Nifty touched an intra-day low of 4,789 so far.

The Rupee today tumbled by 35 paise to trade at a new all-time time low of Rs 54.82 against the US dollar in early trade on increased capital outflows and strong demand from importers for the American currency.

Asian shares too fell steeply in today's trades.The Nikkei, Hang Seng, Shanghai Composite, Kospi, Taiwan and Straits Times were down between 1-3%.

Back home, shares of automobiles companies were under pressure on the bourses with the most of the frontline stocks trading lower by 1-4% on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The BSE, auto index, the top loser among the sectoral indices, down over 3% at 9,140 points, as compared to 1.4% drop in the benchmark index.In past one month, the auto index has lost nearly 15%, compared to the 9% fall in the Sensex. The top draggers in this space were Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki down 4% each.

The other sectoral losers were Capital Goods, Metal, Realty and Consumer Durables all declining by 1-2%.

Apart from Auto stocks, the major draggers among the Sensex stocks were Sterlite, BHEL, L&T, Infosys, Jindal Steel and Hindalco down 2-3%

Meanwhile, Hindustan Unilever and SBI marginally up 0.8% and 0.3% were the only gainers among the frontline stocks.

The broader indices too are witnessed selling pressure with the Midcap and Smallcap indices down 1% each in line with the fall in the Sensex.

Among the individual stocks, Bharat Earth Movers Limited tanked 13% to Rs 445 on reports that the company’s account with the State Bank of India’s Overseas Branch has been frozen by the investigation authority.

The market breadth remains weak with 1,559 declining and 690 shares advancing.