Most sectoral indices were trading lower, led by media, financial services and private banks. However, realty, pharms and IT names saw some buying.
How are bluechips doing
After opening in the green, benchmark indices plunged lower. At 10 am, BSE flagship Sensex was down 131 points or 0.23 per cent to 58,209. NSE benchmark Nifty dropped to 17,372, down 43 points or 0.25 per cent.
“On the technical front, the key resistance levels for Nifty50 are 17,560 followed by 17,700 and on the downside 17,310 followed by 17,210 can act as strong support. Key resistance and support for Bank Nifty are 37,800 and 37,150, respectively,” said Mohit Nigam, Head – PMS, Hem Securities.
In the 50-share pack Nifty, UPL was the biggest gainer, up 1.64 per cent. Reliance Industries, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Divi’s Labs and Adani Ports were among other gainers.
ICICI Bank was the top loser in the pack, down 1.64 per cent. NTPC, Eicher Motors, Coal India, Shree Cement, Indian Oil, Power Grid, Cipla, HDFC and IndusInd Bank were among those that traded in the red.
FACTORS DRIVING MARKETS
Unemployment at 52-yr low: The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell to their lowest level since 1969 last week, suggesting economic activity was accelerating. A separate report from the US Commerce Department on Wednesday showed gross domestic product rose at a 2.1 per cent rate in the third quarter.
Fed indicates quick rate hikes: A growing number of Fed policymakers indicated they would be open to speeding up the elimination of their bond-buying program if high inflation held and move more quickly to raise interest rates, minutes of the US central bank’s last policy meeting showed.
Dollar on a high: The dollar index edged 0.1 per cent lower off its highest in 16 months hit on Wednesday. A drop in dollar generally means inflows to India.
Broader markets
Broader market indices were trading lower, underperforming their headline peers in morning trade. Nifty Smallcap was down 0.38 per cent while Nifty Midcap declined 0.32 per cent. The broadest index on NSE, Nifty 500 was down 0.22 per cent.
Godrej Properties, Ipca Labs, Prestige Estates, Trident, Sterlite Tech and Rossari Biotech were gainers from the space while Sequent Scientific, Firstsource Solution, JB Chemical, IRCTC, Indian Bank and JSW Energy were under selling pressure.
Global markets
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.18 per cent to a six-week low, having posted a small decline in each of the past six trading sessions. Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.8 per cent.
There were mild declines across the board. Australia shed 0.1 per cent, Hong Kong lost 0.35 per cent, and Chinese blue chips shed 0.3 per cent.
