Markets Live: Nifty opens in red; Tata Motors skids, Rupee back above 56

The Indian market opens on a sluggish note in the morning trade. Tata Motors was the biggest loser of the day after the auto major missed street expectations.

The Sensex was down 93.64 points or 0.57% at 16344.94, and the Nifty was down 31.90 points or 0.64% at 4958.20. About 432 shares advanced, 616 shares declined, and 2376 shares remain unchanged.

Selling pressure was seen in banks, capital goods and realty stocks. No major buying was hapenning in the opening bell.

Top gainers on the Nifty were Sun Pharma, ONGC, GAIL, HCL Tech and ITC. Heavyweights Axis Bank, Ambuja Cements, Jaiprakash Associates and SAIL were giving company to Tata Motors on the downside.

Rupee on a downhill course

The Indian rupee opens below 56 per dollar versus 55.67 yesterday. Pramit Brahmbhatt, Alpari India said, "The rupee will be under pressure on account of the Euro's weakness and global concerns. The range for the day is seen between 55.40- 56.20/USD."

The euro fell to the lowest level since July 2010, below 1.25 against the dollar as investor concern about Spain’s ability to recapitalize troubled banks increased; boosting bets the union's debt crisis is worsening.

Thumbs down for Tata Motors

Tata Motors fourth quarter consolidated net profit more than doubled year-on-year to Rs 6,234 crore as continued strong growth at luxury Jaguar Land Rover unit coupled with an exceptional gain helped cushion domestic speed bumps.

Sluggish sales of cars and heavy trucks due to high interest rates, expensive petrol and overall economic slowdown continues to hurt Tata Motors' operations in India.

Speciality Restaurants debut

Speciality Restaurants will make its debut on exchanges today. The issue price was set at Rs 150 per share, raising over Rs 175 crores. The issue proceeds will be utilised for development of new restaurants.

Rollover Analysis

Nifty rolls were observed at 38.18% versus 3-Month average of 46.29%. Market wide rollover was 48.71% vs. 3M average 43.71%
 
Sectorally, the capital goods, metals and realty space observed high rollover of positions while stocks from the technology, oil & gas and FMCG sectors are witnessing relatively low rolls into the May series.

Highest rollover was observed in stocks like McLeod Russel (73%), Bharat Forge (70%), Bank of India (65%), Sterlite Industries (64%) and JSW Steel (63%). Low rollover activities were observed in stocks like Dabur, Lupin, Havells, GSPL and MphasiS
 
Among index heavyweights, Tech Mahindra (27%), BPCL (28%) and Wipro (32%) are witnessing low rolls while Bhel (68%), SAIL (60%) and Maruti (59%) are observing better rollover into June series.

Global Markets

The US markets rallied more than 1% across the board on Tuesday to close near session highs buoyed by stimulus hopes in China and after Greek election polls pointed to support for pro-bailout parties.

Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.01% or 125.86 points at 12580.69. Nasdaq Composite gained 1.18% or 33.46 points at 2870.99. Standard & Poor's 500 rose 1.11% or 14.6 points at 1332.42.

Asian markets were tarding lower in 1-2% range.

Commodities Check

Crude prices slip to sub USD 107 per barrel levels in choppy trading, after a downgrade of Spain’s credit rating sent the euro to nearly a two-year low against the dollar. Meanwhile gold too sliped to USD 1550 an ounce levels following weakness in the euro.

Market cues:
FIIs net buys USD 32 million in cash market on May 28
Turnover on NSE`s (F&O) segment rose to Rs 1.47 lakh cr from Rs 1.36 lakh cr

F&O cues:
Total Puts add 13.9 lakh shares in Open Interest
Total Calls shed 5.6 lakh shares in Open Interest
4700 Put sheds 3.8 lakh shares in Open Interest
4800 Put adds 9 lakh shares in Open Interest
5100 Call adds 5 lakh shares in Open Interest
4800 Put sheds 1 lakh shares in Open Interest
4600 Put adds 1.2 lakh shares in Open Interest
5000 Call adds 1.85 lakh shares in Open Interest
Total Nifty Futures add 5.5 lakh shares in Open Interest
Stock Futures shed 21 lakh shares in Open Interest
Nifty PCR rose to 1.08 from 1.06.
India VIX closed at 24.03 up by 1.48%