Markets in negative mood, await GDP data

As we said in our morning commentary, the markets have opened in negative mode. The BSE Sensex is trading down by over 119 points. On the NSE, the 50-stock Nifty index is down by 38 points.

Asian indices are volatile in trade at this hour. The Shanghai is down by over 2%, while Nikkei and Hang Seng are also down by more than 1% each.

The markets are awaiting the GDP data today. We expect these numbers to be poor. The contraction of the GDP would further increase the volatility in the markets.

All the sectoral indices are trading in the red. CD has taken the major beating, and is down by 118 points. The BSE IT Index is down by over 1% and the IPO Index is down by 0.41%. BSE Mid-Cap and Small-Cap, as well as the BSE 100, 200 and 500 indices are also trading in the red zone.

Among the Sensex stocks, Hindustan Unilever, Sun Pharma, ONGC, HDFC Bank, TCS and Wipro are seen trading in the green. However, both BHEL and Mahindra & Mahindra are down by over 2%. Metal stocks are also down by between 1-2%.

Among the individual stocks, JSW Energy is trading up by over 6% on the news that its CEO has quit the company.

As mentioned in our morning commentary, the financial shares of MRF and Britannia Industries are trading in the green zone.

The market breadth, which indicates the overall health of the market, is negative. Out of a total of 2367 stocks, 1318 declined, 957 advanced and 92 stocks remained unchanged.

Investors will await news on the domestic GDP growth. As the markets expect poor numbers, they will remain volatile for the day.