Markets traded deeper into the red by the noon on August 9. Weak cues from global markets after Moody's last evening downgraded a few regional US banks battered the sentiment, driving the domestic benchmark indices to open lower.
Selling in the market intensified as the day progressed, with the Nifty50 slipping below the 19,500 mark. At 11.35am, the Sensex was down 328.48 points, or 0.50 percent, at 65,518.02, and the Nifty was down 82.80 points, or 0.42 percent, at 19,488.00.
Investors also chose to refrain from placing aggressive bets in the run-up to the Reserve Bank of India's rate outcome and the US retail inflation print for July due tomorrow.
"Listless trading could be seen till the RBI's monetary policy meeting outcome and global cues will continue to dictate trends in the local market. Technically, after a reversal formation, the market has been witnessing range-bound activities near the 20-day SMA (simple moving average)," said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Research (Retail) at Kotak Securities.
"Fresh rally is possible only after the dismissal of 19,635, and above the same the index could move till 19,700-19,735. On the flip side, below 19,525, the selling pressure is likely to accelerate and could retest the level of 19,480-19,450," Chouhan said.
On the sectoral front, too, most frontline sectors such as automobile, banks, information technology, FMCG, energy and infra struggled with losses. Among the exceptions were the Nifty Pharma and Nifty Metal indices which were trading 0.4 percent higher each.
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On the stock-specific front, index heavyweights ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank were all down around a percent, putting further pressure on the Nifty50. Hero MotoCorp also fell around a percent as profit-booking seeped into the counter post stellar gains in recent sessions.
Quarterly earnings also dictated some action in the market as shares of Gujarat Alkalies, Gujarat State Fertilisers, Brigade Enterprises, Mishra Dhatu Nigam, and Aarti Industries slumped in trade, bogged down by their disappointing April-June numbers. At a contrast, Adani Ports, Suven Pharma, EIH and Tilaknagar Industries rose thanks to their healthy quarterly performance.
Within the broader market, small-caps fared better than mid-caps and large-caps as the Nifty Smallcap 100 moved 0.3 percent higher. The Nifty Midcap index however, was down 0.2 percent.
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