MUMBAI: The
Nifty drifted lower after a gap-down opening and was close to 5,250 levels as weak cues from Asian peers weighed on the market sentiment.
The trade is likely to remain choppy ahead of the August series derivatives settlement, say dealers.
"Short-term support of 20-day SMA has been violated and we now expect a test of the next support of 5,260 in the immediate near term. Volatility index, also known as 'fear index', has started to tick up signaling downside risks to the market," said an Edelweiss report.
"We expect the Nifty to drop down to the 5,260 area where multiple supports from 50-day EMA and the 'bullish gap' area should help a minor rebound rally. However, the short-term down trend has been established. Any break of supports can extend the slide towards 5,220, closing the bullish gap," the report added.
At 10:05 am, the 50-share index was at 5,258.70, down 29.10 points or 0.55 per cent. The broader index touched a high of 5,271.45 and a low of 5,258.10.
The
Sensex was at 17,381.74, down 109.07 points or 0.62 per cent. The broader index touched a high of 17,436.70 and a low of 17,378.65.
The
BSE Midcap Index was down 0.41 per cent and the
BSE Smallcap Index edged 0.34 per cent lower.
Among the sectoral indices, the BSE Auto Index was down 1.09 per cent, the BSE Oil & Gas Index declined 1.07 per cent, the BSE Capital Goods Index slipped 0.94 per cent and the BSE Metal Index declined 0.89 per cent. The BSE Healthcare Index was up 0.08 per cent.
Jaiprakash Associates (3.20%),
Hero MotoCorp (2.78%), Jindal Steel (2.20%), Reliance Infrastructure (1.79%) and
Maruti Suzuki (1.79%) were the major Nifty losers.
Jaiprakash Associates continued to remain under pressure as sentiment turned bearish after the company launched a foreign currency convertible bond (FCCB) issue of $150 million for repayment of the existing FCCBs.
Power Grid Corporation (1.26%), DLF (1.15%),
Tata Power (1.06%),
Hindalco Industries (0.87%) and HCL Tech (0.59%) led the gainers pack.
The
market breadth was negative on the NSE with 399 gainers against 932 losers.
Jittery investors booked profits in Asian markets ahead of the
US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke's speech at Jackson Hole on Friday. The
Nikkei 225 was down 0.74 per cent, the Seoul Composite moved 1.42 per cent lower and the Hang Seng fell 1.32 per cent.
The foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 143.3 crore on Wednesday, as per provisional data from the NSE.
