Markets Troubled, Nifty Below 6000

After a small gap-down in the opening bell, the Indian markets have been witnessing trades on the sell side only. The global indices have also tanked today. The Nifty is trading lower by 114 points at 5978 and the Sensex is trading down 345 points at 19716. Both indices are trading lower in the range of 1.8%-1.7%.

The advance-decline ratio is strongly negative. On the NSE, 1193 shares are trading in the red zone, and only 227 shares are in the green.

Top Nifty Gainers: There are only 4 gainers on the Nifty as of now. HDFC is leading the list, up by 0.4%. UltraTech Cements, ONGC and HUL are also trading higher.

Top Nifty Losers: Ranbaxy Labs is trading lower by 9.4%, followed by Reliance Infra, JP Associates, SBIN and Larsen & Turbo.

All 13 sectoral indices are trading in losses in the afternoon trading session. Capital Goods and Banks remain the top losers, down 546 points and 345 points. Consumer Durables and Metals are witnessing a sell-off since the morning, down by 160 points and 178 points respectively.

Most of the Asian markets are in choppy waters too. The Nikkei is the top loser, down 1143 points. The Hang Seng has dropped 590 points, Taiwan Index is down 161 points, while KOSPI and Shanghai Composite are both 25 points lower.

Buzzers: SBIN’s net interest income has slipped 5.3% to Rs 11,080 crore from Rs 11,703 crore YoY reported nearly 19% YoY drop in its fourth quarter of FY13 net profit at Rs 3,300 crore. Higher provisions against non-performing assets and marginal growth in other income dented the bank's profit margin. After SBIN drops and deep of Rs 180 made low of 2177.

The shares of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) are taking a beating, with R-Power down 5.8%, Reliance Communications down 6.4% and Reliance Capital down 5.2%.

The Nifty has strong support at the 5970 level. If it closes below this level, it will move further down.