Sensex Down Over 100 Points, Nifty Below 10,750

The domestic stock markets traded in the red on Tuesday, a day after the central bank agreed to address the centre's call to share its surplus reserves. The S&P BSE Sensex opened at 35,730.77 and the Nifty50 index of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) at 10,740.10. At 10:34 am, the 30-share Sensex traded at 35,652.05, down 122.83 points or 0.34 per cent, and the 50-scrip Nifty was at 10,717.90, with a loss of 45.50 points or 0.42 per cent. Thirty four Nifty stocks traded in the negative.

Losing between 1.66 per cent and 3.42 per cent, the top laggards in the Nifty pack were Yes Bank, Hindalco, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra and JSW Steel.

All sectoral indices, barring Nifty Realty - the index of realty stocks - traded with losses. Nifty IT - the index of technology stocks - and Nifty Metal - the index of metal stocks - were the top two drags.

Technical experts, however, feel that the charts suggest Nifty will gain later in the day. After breaking the intermediate resistance of 10,700, which was in the proximity of 38.2 per cent Fibonacci retracement of previous fall, Nifty is now marching towards the northern trajectory. The rally can be seen up to the level of 10,950 which is in the proximity of 50 per cent Fibonacci retracement of the precious fall," said Dyaneshwar Padwal, AVP Technical Analyst, KIFS Trade Capital. Fibonacci retracement is a technical indicator used to determine support and resistance levels of markets.

Meanwhile, Asian stock markets skidded, extending sharp losses on Wall Street as technology firms bore the brunt of worries about slackening demand, while the dollar sagged after weak US data further sapped confidence in the currency. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.9 per cent, reported news agency Reuters.

In the currency market, the rupee rose to as much as 71.36 - the highest since September 4 - against the US dollar.

In the commodities market, oil prices lost steam, giving back earlier gains, as a deteriorating economic outlook and a surge in US production outweighed expected supply cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Brent crude oil futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $66.55 a barrel at 0313 GMT or 9:43 am IST, down 24 cents, or 0.4 per cent from their last close, reported Reuters.

On Monday, the Sensex closed at 35,774 and the Nifty50 settled at 10,763. Foreign portfolio investors purchased while domestic institutional investors sold net equities of Rs 1,103.36 crore and Rs 310.26 crore respectively.

With the central bank agreeing to set up a panel on sharing surplus reserves and restructure loans of small businesses up to Rs. 25 crore, the RBI board meeting ended on a conciliatory note. The RBI announced that it would inject Rs. 8,000 crore worth of liquidity into the system through open market operations on November 22. (With agency inputs)