Inflation Numbers Send Indices Reeling

After seeing a gap-up opening today, the frontline indices have seen profit booking in mid-session. All the early gains were lost as the inflation data for August jumped to 6.1% from 5.79% overall and food inflation also rose to 18.18% from 11.91% (data on a month-on-month basis). At this hour, the Nifty has turned into the negatives, down by 10 points at 5840 and Sensex is down by 10 points at 19720. The indices have lost 0.15% each.

On the NSE, the advance-decline ratio is balanced, with 1618 advances and 1697 declines.

Top 5 Nifty Gainers: Maruti Suzuki is up by 3.5% so far, followed by ICICI Bank, Hero MotoCorp, IndusInd Bank and Bharti Airtel.

Top 5 Nifty Losers: Ranbaxy Labs is leading the losers list, down by 28.5%, followed by HCL Tech, Sesa Goa, BHEL and Coal India.

In a dramatic reversal from the morning trades, 8 of the 13 sectoral indices are now trading negative. Health Care was the strongest loser, down 184 points. IT dipped by 125 points, Metals has lost 75 points and TECk is trading 47 points lower. The Mid-Cap and Small-Cap have turn into the negatives, down 23 points and 17 points respectively.

The Asian markets, though, have remained strong. The Hang Seng is up by 290 points, Straits Times has gained 112 points and Taiwan Weighted is up by 54 points.

Buzzer: Tata Steel had surged by 4%-5% in the last week and the scrip had made a new high around Rs 317. Today, the stock was hammered and has come below it technical level of Rs 300. If it closes below this level, it may see more pain in further trading sessions.

Nifty Futures did not manage to sustain above the 5970 level and has lost all its gains. If the index remains below 5900, it will continue to see selling pressure.