Nifty hovers around 7550, Sensex still weak; BHEL & SBI slip 2%

Moneycontrol Bureau12:45 pm Market outlook: Manish Gunwani, Deputy CIO - Equity at ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund advises, "Global risk-off phases create good entry points for investors. These are good times to enter equities," adding that over the long term, stock market returns roughly equal nominal growth of a country (which has generally been well into double digits for India). "[Given the long term prospects for stocks] a good model for investors is to keep buying more and more as markets come down," he said. Gunwani manages a number of mutual fund schemes for ICICI, including its flagship, Focused Bluechip Equity.12:30 pm China update: Chinese markets extended an already rough start to the year Monday, losing further ground and other Asian markets came along for the ride lower.

The Shanghai composite was down as much 5.22 percent in late-afternoon trade, while the Shenzhen Composite shed 6.5 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down 2.24 percent on Monday, slipping below the 20,000 threshold for the first time since June 2013.

Reuters reported that the yuan-based Hong Kong Interbank Offered Rates (HIBOR) spiked to over 13 percent from 4 percent Friday as offshore yuan volume declined.

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The market is picking up strength gradually. The Sensex is down 103.02 points or 0.4 percent at 24831.31 and the Nifty slips 38.30 points or 0.5 percent at 7563.05. About 1070 shares have advanced, 1388 shares declined, and 144 shares are unchanged.

Cipla, Dr Reddy's, Adani Ports, BHEL and SBI are major losers while Reliance, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzukim Axis Bank and NTPC are top gainers in the Sensex.

Gold edged higher, trading close to last session's nine-week high as pressure on Asian stock markets supported safe-haven bids for the metal. Asian share markets swept lower after Wall Street suffered its worst starting week in history and doubts over Beijing's economic competence sent investors into the arms of the safe-haven yen and sovereign bonds.

Gold climbed to its highest since early November on Friday, adding more than 4 percent to its value this year, on concerns over the Chinese economy and tumbling stock markets.