Nifty slips on weak Asian cues; crude rises

The benchmark Nifty slipped below the 5500 mark in opening trade following weak global cues, tracking jump in Brent crude to USD 116 a barrel, jumped nearly 2% on renewed tensions in Libya.

Nymex crude was up 0.35% at USD 104.75/bbl after crude oil inventories rose more than expected by 2.5 million barrels. Libyan leader Gaddafi forces hit oil facilities in Central Libya and crushed rebels with artillery and gunfire in at least two major cities. Among frontliners, TCS, BHEL, ONGC, Bharti Airtel, SBI, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, ITC, Wipro, Infosys, L&T, NTPC, Sterlite and HDFC Bank were witnessing selling pressure. However, Tata Motors, Cairn, Reliance Capital, HDFC, Reliance Infrastructure, and ACC gained. At 9:17 hours IST, the 50-share NSE Nifty was trading at 5,490, down 40 points and the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 128 points to 18,341. The CNX Midcap fell 27 points to 7,649. About 250 shares advanced as against 431 shares declined on National Stock Exchange. New listing - Acropetal Technologies was trading at Rs 136, up 51% over an issue price of Rs 90 a share. Hanung Toys jumped 8% and Raj TV rallied 18%. ITI was up 2% and HCC up 1%. However, Canara Bank fell 1% as it launched QIP and fixed issue priced at Rs 604/share. Asian markets were trading lower. Shanghai, Nikkei and Kospi fell 1-1.5%. Hang Seng, Straits Times and Taiwan went down 0.7%. _PAGEBREAK_ Global cues: Global markets were down yesterday as Brent crude turned back at USD 116 a barrel amid intensified fighting in Libya. Base metals witnessed profit booking; Baltic Dry Index surged. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 1.3 points at 12,213, after seeing recovery of 60 points from day's low. The Nasdaq Composite was down 14 points at 2,752, after seeing recovery of 15 points from day's low. The S&P 500 Index fell 2 points at 1,320, after witnessing recovery of 8 points from day's low. Commodities Nymex crude was up 0.35% at USD 104.75/bbl after crude oil inventories rose more than expected by 2.5 million barrels. London Brent crude gained nearly 2% at around USD 116 a barrel Copper was down 3%; lowest level since December Zinc fell almost 7%; lowest level since January 2010 Lead lost over 4% April natural gas contract gained 1.4% at USD 3.93 per MMBtu April gold contract was up 0.2% at USD 1429.6/ounce May silver contract gained 1.1% at USD 36.04/ounce Baltic Dry Index shot up 3.4%; up 18% in last 10 days and gained 40% since February 4 F&O cues: Total Futures Open Int up Rs 1238 crore, Total Options Open Int up Rs 1324 crore Total stock futures Open Int add 86 lakh shares in Open Int Nifty futures Open Int add 9.2 lakh shares in Open Int, premium down at 11 pts from 15 pts prem India VIA down 1.6% at 23.28 Nifty Open Int PCR down to 1.27 from 1.29 Total Put add 2.34 lakh shares, call add 15.2 lakh shares Highest OI outstanding at 5400 put, 5300 put, 5600 call Nifty 5600 call add 7.9 lakh (14%) shares in Open Int Nifty 5000 Put add 3.4 lakh (7%) shares in Open Int Nifty 5800 call add 3.3 lakh (7%) shares in Open Int Nifty 5600 put add 2.9 lakh (16%) shares in Open Int Nifty 5500 put add 2.5 lakh (5%) shares in Open Int Nifty April 5500 Put adds 1.7 lakh (33%) shares in Open Int Nifty 5400 put shed 3.2 lakh (3%) shares in Open Int Nifty 5100 put shed 3.4 lakh (5%) shares in Open Int Nifty 5300 put shed 2.6 lakh (3%) shares in Open Int