Sensex loses 291 points to close at 18862 - AXIS Direct

The markets opened half-a-percent higher as investors keenly awaited the budget announcement in the late morning session. The markets witnessed volatility as it moved lower by noon session and slipped further in the late session ending the day on a weak note. Among the sectoral indices Consumer Durables & IT gained while Power, Bankex, Capital Goods & Metals lost the most. In the Sensex stocks TCS (2.14%), Bharti Airtel (0.62%) & Tata Motors (0.49%) were the gainers while SBI (5.80%), Tata Steel (4.04%) and ICICI Bank (3.86%) were among the losers. The Sensex lost 291 points or 1.52% to close at 18,862 and the Nifty lost 104 points or 1.79% to close at 5,693.

Total traded turnover stood at Rs 441,324 cr. In equities FIIs were net sellers (Rs 1,318 cr) while DIIs were net buyers of (Rs 418 cr). On the derivatives side, FIIs were net sellers in Index Futures (Rs 1,498 cr) while they were net buyers Index Options (Rs 168 cr) Stock Options (Rs 38 cr) Stock Futures (Rs 513 cr).

The US markets ended marginally lower on light volumes and mixed economic data. The Dow Jones lost 21 points or 0.15% to close at 14,054 and the NASDAQ lost 2 points or 0.07% to close at 3,160. The Asian markets are trading marginally lower. Nikkei is currently trading lower by 0.08% while Hang Seng is trading lower by 0.35%.

Asian markets edged lower in early trade on Friday on the back of economic fallout from Italy's political stalemate, likelihood of U.S. spending cuts and caution ahead of China's manufacturing data. Indian indices are also expected to open in the red after the Union Budget failed to improve sentiments as it lacked tools to improve the Current account deficit and revive growth. The focus is now expected to shift to global cues and policy implementation for further direction.

Source : Equity Bulls

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