Mkts under pressure; DLF, HDFC, Wipro, Sterlite lose

ALSO READ See Key Market Stats - Top Gainers/ Losers, Most Actives, Highs/Lows See how Global Markets are trading Indian ADRs Nifty BSE | NSE 25/05/12 Are Mutual Funds betting on Nifty?

The markets are trading sharply lower as selling pressure continues in oil & gas exploration, technology, metal, realty, power, telecom and banking segments. Weak global cues are also putting pressure on the markets.

At 11:50 hours IST, the Sensex went down 161 points to 9,263 and the Nifty fell 54 points at 2,820. BSE Midcap and Small Cap indices are flat

Among frontliners, DLF (-9.48%), Jaiprakash Associates (-4.52%), HDFC (-4.25%), Wipro (-3.98%), Tata Steel (-3.95%), SAIL (-4.39%) and NALCO (-3.97%) are top losers. However, GAIL, Maruti Suzuki, PNB, Hero Honda and BHEL are gainers.

Punjab National Bank will merge PNB Gilts with self. The stock went up nearly 1% and PNB Gilts locked at 10% upper circuit with pending buy orders of 220,148 shares; volumes jumped by 242%.

The BSE Realty declined 5.6%. Metal, TECK, Bankex, IT and Oil & Gas indices lost 1-2.6%.

Market breadth is slightly weak: about 1,226 shares have advanced while 1,321 shares declined. Nearly 429 shares are unchanged.

On the global front, Asian markets are mixed. Hang Seng and Straits Times slipped 2.75%. Nikkei lost 2% and Kospi fell 1.2%. However, Shanghai rose 0.72% and Taiwan up 0.28%.

Markets @ 10:29 am : Mkts extend losses; Nifty drifting towards 2800

The benchmark indices have extended losses further - the Nifty is drifting towards the 2,800 mark. Realty, telecom, capital goods, banking, power, oil & gas and technology stocks are extremely under pressure. Midcap and smallcap stocks are a bit quiet.

At 10:29 hours IST, the Sensex tumbled 209 points to 9,215 and the Nifty fell 68 points at 2,806. The BSE Midcap and Small Cap indices fell only 0.34%.

Market breadth is a bit mixed: about 1,213 shares have advanced while 1,282 shares declined. Nearly 480 shares are unchanged.

January sales of Market Suzuki increased to 71,779 units versus 68,107, YoY. The stock went up over 1%. TVS Motor also surged 3%, as motorcycle sales in January were up 13% to 43,990 units versus 38,961 units. Its total two-wheeler sales were at 93,729 units versus 93,385 units.

Realty stocks have crashed in early trade, after disappointing earnings from frontline companies like DLF and Unitech. BSE Realty index fell nearly 8%. DLF fell 12% and Unitech lost 6.2%.

BSE Metal, Bankex, TECk, and IT indices tumbled 2-3%. Oil & Gas, Power, Capital Goods and FMCG indices lost 1-1.7%.

Markets @ 9:56 am : Mkts retreat on disappointing earnings, weak global cues

The markets retreated on the first day of the week following weak sentiment across the globe as well as disappointing earnings from frontline companies during the recently-concluded results season. Technology, banking, realty, auto and metal stocks are under pressure. There is a bit of volatility too.

At 9:56 am, the Sensex went down 116 points at 9,307 and the Nifty lost 38 points to 2,836. CNX Midcap fell 12 points at 3,345.

Among the frontliners, Infosys, Punjab National Bank, DLF, Unitech, Tata Motors, M&M, Sterlite Industries, HDFC, Wipro, Reliance Power, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank are losers. However, Reliance Industries and SBI are gainers.

Spice Communication shot up 40% on news that BK Modi is prepared to acquire Satyam on an as-is-where-is-basis. Satyam jumped 3.7%.

Fertiliser stocks like Chambal Fertiliser, Nagarjuna Fert etc. are in focus today as RIL was allowed to sell gas in the interim period at $4.2/mmbtu.

Asian markets are trading mixed. Straits Times and Hang Seng lost 2.45% each. Nikkei fell 1.6% and Kospi lost 0.38%. However, Shanghai and Taiwan gained 0.51-0.87%.

US markets fell on continued criticism about government's bad bank plan, Obama administration and financial industrial representatives discussed a range of measures to ease the credit crunch on Saturday.

US markets witnessed worst fall in the month of January on record, second worst January was in 1916, when Dow Jones dropped 8.6%.

Dow Jones ended 148 points or 1.8% down at 8,000.8 and declined 1% for the week and lost 8.8% in January. S&P 500 lost 2.3% at 826, down 0.7% for the week and lost 8.5% in January. Nasdaq was down 2% at 1,477 and ended flat for the week. It lost 6.4% in January.

Market cues:

FIIs net buy USD 68.2 million in equity on January 29

MF net buy Rs 579 crore in equity on January 29

NSE F&O Open Int up by Rs 4437 crore to Rs 41,349 crore

F&O cues:

Nifty ends up 1.8%; Total Open Int up 5% (15 lakh shares)

Total Fut Open Int up by Rs 1,959 crore, Total Options Open Int up by Rs 2,478 crore

Nifty Feb Futures discount at 7 pts versus 26 pts a day ago

Stock Futures add 7.5 cr shares in Open Int

Nifty Open Int Put-Call ratio up from 1.09 to 1.21

Nifty Calls add 18.2 lakh shares in Open Int, Puts add 48.8 lakh shares in Open Int

Nifty 2800 Put adds 14.5 lakh shares in Open Int

Nifty 2700 Put adds 13.8 lakh shares in Open Int

Nifty 2600 Put adds 8.5 lakh shares in Open Int

Nifty 3000 Call adds 4.5 lakh shares in Open Int