The BSE Sensex opened lower Wednesday as investors looked to consolidate gains over the last few days. The Nifty index held on to the crucial 5,100 mark in early trade.
"The short term momentum continues to remain positive. The next target for the Nifty is 5,150, which is the 200 day exponential moving average. A break on the upside accompanied by 10-15% volume expansion would be great for markets," independent analyst Sarvendra Srivastava said.
The rupee was marginally lower against the dollar at 55.84 at 09.25 a.m. The Sensex was down 30 points or 0.17% at 16,833, while the broader Nifty index was down 6 points at 5,110.
Auto stocks (-0.7%) were the big losers on the back of comments by Petroleum Minister S Jaipal Reddy, who recommended a steep Rs 2,55,000 duty on large and medium diesel cars and Rs 1,70,000 on small diesel cars.
On the Nifty index, M&M (-1.6%) was the biggest loser. The company has a big portfolio of diesel cars. Maruti Suzuki (-1.5%), India's biggest car maker, also saw selling pressure. Tata Motors (-1%) shares were also down.
In all, 26 of the 50 Nifty stocks traded lower. The market breadth was positive with over 60% stocks rising on the broader BSE 500 index, indicating buying interest in midcap and small cap stocks.
Global cues were mixed with Asian stocks trading mostly higher on the back of a strong rally in US stocks. Markets in Japan gained 0.76%. Overnight, the Dow rose 1.3% to 12,574 after a Fed official said he supported more measures to stimulate the US economy.
However, bad news from Europe refused to fade away. In Spain, Fitch downgraded 18 banks and benchmark borrowing hit its highest level.
(With inputs from AP)
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