Markets Give Up Yesterday's Gains

As expected in our morning update, the Indian markets opened their trades on a negative note. At present, the Sensex and Nifty are trading lower by 0.32% and 0.44% respectively.

Among the sectoral indices, Metals and Capital Goods are the major losers, down by over 1%. Others like Power, Bankex and Healthcare are also facing some heat in today’s trade. Defensive bets FMCG and Consumer Durables are the only ones in the green zone.

Other Asian markets are also trading lower in the red zone. Nikkei and Shanghai Indices are trading down by 0.87% and 0.12% respectively. Hang seng Index is lower by 1.14% at the 19200 levels. Reports said that the Asian stocks fell for the fifth day and gold declined as worse-than-expected Australian economic data added to signs that the global economy is struggling to grow. The nation’s currency weakened, while the US dollar rose.

Back home, BHEL is the leading index loser, lower by 2.56% at Rs 213.30. Metals stocks plunged, with Tata Steel, Sterlite Industries and Jindal Steel down by over 1.5% each. Banking majors like ICICI Bank and SBI are also trading in losses of 1.11% and 0.59% respectively. Other stocks like Hero MotoCorp, Coal India, GAIL India and Bajaj Auto are among those marginally in the red zone.

There were a few stocks on the winning side in today’s early trades. Bhart Airtel is the leading gainer, up by 2.56% at Rs 256.05. Index heavyweights HUL and HDFC Bank are trading higher 0.84% and 0.70% respectively. Other stocks like HDFC, Hindalco Industries and ITC are marginally in positives.

The shares of Suzlon Energy are trading lower by 0.46% at Rs 15.20 after the company made an announcement about a 332 MW offshore contract signed with RWE Innogy.

The market breadth, which indicates the overall health of the market, is strong. On the BSE, 1273 shares have advanced, 873 shares have declined and 110 shares are unchanged.