Equity indices extend their losses. While NSE Nifty fell 120.30 pts or 0.56 percent to trade at 21,451.65, BSE Sensex was at 71,223.87, down 276.89 pts or 0.39 percent to 10:44 a.m.
Nifty Bank was at 45,933.35, down 0.28 percent; Nifty Metal at 7,596.80, down 1.26 percent; and Nifty Consumer Durables was at 31,895.95, down 1.11 per cent.
Commenting on the outlook for Nifty50, Anand James, Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said, « Apart from the target of 21,200 suggested yesterday, 20,850 also needs to be factored into the calculations, given the pace of declines. With this in mind, we could expect some seller exhaustion, should the Nifty fail to extend well beyond 21448 initially, or if it manages to float above 21490 early in the day. No dramatic surge in short-covering is likely, however, as 21,800 should act as a firm lid for any near-term upside.
In its daily filing, ICRA Analytics said major benchmarks were dragged down by heavyweight banking stocks after a major private sector bank posted a stable net interest margin in the third quarter of the exercise 24.
Losses widened following comments from U.S. and European central bank officials raising doubts about an early rate cut, he added. Lower-than-expected Chinese GDP growth data in the fourth quarter further deepened the losses, he added.
Top stocks that advanced on the NSE at 11 am were Tech Mahindra, Axis Bank, BPCL, Sun Pharma and Tata Motors, while top laggards were LTI Mindtree, Asian Paints, NTPC, HDFC Bank and IndusInd Bank. The top stocks that hit a 52-week high on the NSE were Oracle Financial Services Software.
Of the 3,706 stocks traded on the BSE, 1,296 stocks advanced, 2,258 stocks declined and 152 stocks remained unchanged. The number of stocks that hit the 52-week high was 204, and the number of stocks that hit the 52-week low was 18.
