Markets extend their losses

As mentioned in our morning update, the markets opened negative in line with global cues. At present, both the Indices are extending their  losses since yesterday, with the Sensex down by 209 points to 16252 and the Nifty down by 69 points to 4865. All the Indices are trading in the red zone.

Asian markets continued to trade lower, down by more than 1% after metals dropped and concerns mounted that bad loans had increased in China.

Back home, BHEL is the leading loser among the Index stocks, down 4.55% to Rs 271.70. Auto stocks like Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra are trading lower in the range of 2-4%. Other stocks like ICICI Bank, Hindalco, RIL, Coal India and SBI are trading down by more than 2%.

On the other hand, defensive stocks like Cipla, Sun Pharma, HUL etc. are trading in the positive territory. DLF and HDFC Bank are trading marginally in the green.

Reliance Infrastructure repaid the entire amount of Rs 1815 cr on external commercial borrowing on 16 November, 2011. The company declared the news post market hours yesterday. Today, the scrip is under pressure, and is down 2.29% to Rs 407.

The market breadth, which indicates the overall health of the market, is very weak. On the BSE, 1626 shares fell, 410 shares rose and 45 shares remained unchanged.

We expect the markets to remain volatile for the day. Also, the European markets will provide some vital cues on the desired direction of the market trend in the late afternoon session. We shall keep updating you regularly through our market commentary.