Indian benchmarks, which had turned rangebound for the past few days, fell below their important support levels and according to analysts they may drift lower if jittery buyers don’t pick up stocks at lower levels.
“Technically 2740~2750 range is providing a good support for markets in short term. However, with no improvement in volumes or market breadth it would be extremely difficult for indices to make any sustainable rally from current levels. Global markets too have started trading in narrow range. Surprisingly, on derivative front Nifty (March-09) 2200 strike put is gathering lots of attention from market players from past few sessions. Considering all above factors traders
are advised to remain extremely cautious in short term. As for today’s trade, Nifty continues to see levels of 2820 as a major hurdle. On lower side, previously mentioned levels of 2740~2750 will continue to provide much needed support. Any move below 2740~2750 range may drag Nifty lower towards 2705 levels. Strict stop losses are absolute must for all short term positions,” said Reliance Money report.
At 10:40 am, National Stock Exchange’s Nifty was at 2730.20, down 59.15 points or 2.12 per cent. The index touched an intra-day low of 2724.30 and a high of 2789.30 in early trade.
Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex was at 8854.80, down 187.83 points or 2.08 per cent. The 30-share index hit a low of 8829.57 and high of 8943.78.
“On the daily charts, we are witnessing a narrow range body formation, which suggests indecisiveness at currentlevels. On the downside, if indices trade below 8977 / 2767 levels then it may further fall 8920 – 8790 / 2736 – 2680 levels. However, a bounce back from the current levels up to 9220 – 9310 / 2525 – 2850 levels cannot be rules out. We still maintain our view that short-term traders should trade from short side on every rally,” said Angel Broking note.
Selling was seen in broader markets as well. BSE Midcap Index was down 1.37 per cent and BSE Smallcap Index slipped 1.10 per cent.
Zee (-5.25%), ABB (-4.44%), Nalco (-4.43%), M&M (-4.37%) and DLF (-4.29%) were the top Nifty
BSE losers.
Cairn (0.66%) was the lone gainer.
All the sectoral indices were in the red. BSE Realty Index was down 3.11 per cent, BSE Bankex fell 2.72 per cent and BSE IT Index tripped 2.23 per cent.
The BSE Realty Index tumbled 3.24 per cent with realty major DLF shaving off 4.45 per cent to Rs 149.40. Indiabulls Realty (-3.45%), Mahindra Life Sciences (-3.45%), Orbit Corp (-3.6%) and Unitech (2.27%) were the other losers.
In the banking universe, Bank of India lost 4.58 per cent to Rs 216.60, Axis Bank fell 3.85 per cent to Rs 372, ICICI Bank dipped 3.73 per cent to Rs 348, Bank of Baroda declined 3.56 per cent to Rs 222.60 and State Bank of India slipped 1.59 per cent to Rs 1042.75 sending the BSE Bankex down 3 per cent.
Market breadth was negative on the BSE with 1082 declines and 419 advances.
Asian markets were heading close to their October lows. Nikkei fell to its lowest intra-day levels since October. It touched an intra-day low of 7405.14 and was down 1.96 per cent, Kospi was down 4.25 per cent and Hang Seng fell 2.47 per cent. Shanghai Composite was up 0.19 per cent.
US stocks fell on Thursday and the Dow Industrials closed at a more than 6-year low as fears of nationalisation hit bank stocks and data showed the number of jobless benefits recipients rose to a record high.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 89.68 points, or 1.19 per cent, to 7,465.95. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 9.48 points, or 1.20 per cent, to 778.94 and the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 25.15 points, or 1.71 percent to 1,442.82.
US government data showed both a record number of continuing unemployment claims, nearly 5 million, and a surprisingly sharp drop in manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic states.
Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com
