Markets looking nervous, trading in the red

As mentioned in our morning update, the markets opened in a very narrow range but in the negative territory. At present, both the indices are trading in the red zone, with the Sensex down 75 points to 16700, and the Nifty is down by 25 points at 5006.

The Asian markets are trading in a mixed bag, as Nikkei and Shanghai are trading marginally in the green, while the Hang Seng is down almost 1%. Chinese markets are nervous as investors speculate on the inflation outlook, which will further move the central bank to take measures to boost economic growth.

Back home, Coal India is the leading Index loser, down 2.37% to Rs 305.35. IT stocks like Infosys, Wipro and TCS are trading lower in the range of 0.50%-1.50%. Index heavyweight, RIL, is down 1.88% to Rs 833. Other stocks like L&T, NTPC, HDFC are trading marginally in the red zone.

On the other hand, the lead gainer, DLF, is up 1.45% to Rs 214. Other pharma stocks like Cipla and Sun Pharma are up more than 1%. Stocks like HUL, Bajaj Auto and Hero MotoCorp are trading marginally in the green zone.

Patni Computer Systems is up 7.81% to Rs 419 after the news that US listed software company iGATE plans to delist shares of its unit Patni Computer from the stock exchange, and will offer shareholders a minimum price of Rs 356.74 a share.

The market breadth, which indicates the overall health of the market, is weak. On the BSE, 1098 shares fell, 758 rose and 68 shares remained unchanged.

In conclusion, we expect the market to remain volatile for the day. The European markets will also provide some vital cues on the desired direction of the market trend in the late afternoon session.