Markets struggles to recover from lows; WPI rises 3.39 per cent

Indian benchmark indices opened lower on Monday, but are striving hard to recover from early losses at the start of the session. Both the benchmark indices Nifty and Sensex are trading flat to positive, moving lethargically, with Nifty hovering around the 8400 mark. The recently announced WPI data rose 3.39 per cent in December, but prices of food remained under pressure for the fourth consecutive month, thereby putting deflationary pressures.

The broader market indices duly outperformed the benchmarks, with the Small-cap and Mid-cap indices up by 0.5 per cent and 0.3 per cent, respectively. The market breadth has remained positive, with 1493 advances and 1030 declines.
 
On the sectoral front, the Realty index has zoomed with an upmove of nearly 2 per cent on the back of 4 per cent plus surge in both DLF and HDIL. The Metal index followed with 1.1 per cent gains, driven by 2 per cent and more rise in SAIL and Hindustan Zinc. On the contrary, the IT, FMCG and Pharma indices are on a downtrend. The quarterly results of RIL, LIC Housing Finance and DHFL will be declared today. For Nifty, the levels of 8415-8420, followed by 8460, will act as crucial resistance levels for now.