BSE Realty, Bankex, Metal and Oil & Gas indices have plunged by 1% each
Benchmark indices have extended losses and are trading near day’s low weighed down by banks, metal and oil & gas shares.
At 1250 hrs, the Sensex was down 60 points at 20,914 and the Nifty slipped 24 points to trade around the 6,230 levels.
According to Devangshu Datta, Technical Analyst, “Right now the trading range is very narrow. Option premiums seem to suggest that a breakout from the current 6250-6350 range could go till either 6450 or till 6125 (more potential downside). So roughly a 125-150 pt swing could come if there's a breakout. (Assume 40 pts premium on futures versus spot index levels)”.
On the global front, most Asian markets refused to budge on Wednesday in the face of uncertainty over monetary policy in the United States and Europe, though Japanese stocks managed to buck the trend thanks to gains in major car makers. Tokyo shares stood out with a 0.9% rise led by a 1.3% jump in Toyota on reports it was about to raise its profit forecasts.
Excitement was sorely lacking otherwise, with MSCI's index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan inching up 0.1%. Australia's main index was all but flat, as were shares in Shanghai.
Investors mostly took their cue from Wall Street which had turned lower on Tuesday after the Institute for Supply Management's October read on US services came in at a surprisingly strong 55.4.
Back home, the rupee weakened in morning trade today due to dollar demand from importers.
According to currency dealers, besides dollar gaining against other currencies in the global markets, lower opening in the domestic equity market too influenced the rupee's depreciation.
On the sectoral front, BSE Realty, Bankex, Metal and Oil & Gas indices have plunged by 1% each. However, BSE Power, IT, TECk and Healthcare indices have gained by 1% each.
The main losers on the Sensex at this hour include Sesa Sterlite, Hindalco, HDFC, SBI, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Auto and RIL.
State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest lender, today said it will increase its base rate or minimum lending rate by 20 basis points from Thursday. The base rate of the bank will be revised to 10% from 9.80% now.
On Saturday, HDFC Bank, the second largest private sector lender in India, had increased its minimum lending rate by 20 basis points to 10%.
Shares of information technology (IT) companies are in demand after Cognizant raises full year profit and revenue forecast.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro, Tech Mahindra, Infosys and HCL Technologies are trading higher in the range of 1-3% on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
Among other shares, ABB India has moved higher by nearly 11% at Rs 698 after reporting 67% year-on-year (yoy) growth in net profit at Rs 36 crore for the third quarter ended September 2013 (Q3), despite fall in operational revenue. The company had profit of Rs 21 crore in a year ago quarter.
Torrent Power has surged over 18% to Rs 113 on back of heavy volumes on the bourses. The stock opened at Rs 96 on BSE, has seen over four-fold jump in trading volumes.
The market breadth in BSE remains firm with 1,202 shares advancing and 964 shares declining.
Gold prices traded marginally higher by 0.16 per cent at Rs 29,210 per ten grams at the futures trade today as speculators created positions, driven by a rise in demand at the spot market amid a firm global trend.