Losses in ITC, RIL pull Sensex below 16000, rupee nears 56/$

The Indian markets open weak with the Sensex down around 91 points in opening trade at 15935 and the Nifty down around 27 points at 4832 as the global developments are not giving any positive cues, though some recovery can be expected in the latter part of the day depending on the sentiments in the European markets.

Among the losers Tata Power is down 4 percent, Maruti slips 1 percent, Tata Motors down 1 percent.However, losses in ITC, which is down 1 percent and RIL, DOWN 0.6 percent, is what is pulling the Sensex down. I

nfosys, Wipro, TCS, BHEL, M&M, Gail India were among the notable leaders in the Sensex and the Nifty.

Tata Power, Coal India, ICICI Bank, DLF, NTPC, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, L&T, Maruti were among the notable losers in the Sensex and the Nifty.

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The BSE Small-Cap index and BSE Mid-Cap index was trading down 0.05% and 0.35%.

Oil and Gas, Auto,Consumer Goods, IT, Teck, FMCG, Metal, Realty, Bankex, Power, PSU are the losers.

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The Indian markets suffered sharp cut in last session as the rupee continued its relentless declining trend and remained above the psychological level of 55 per dollar mark for the second consecutive day, almost nearing to 55.50 mark. Today the rupee has opened has fallen below 55.5 in opening trade. The rupee fell as much as to 55.82 to the dollar. It had closed at 55.39/40 on Tuesday.According to a Reuters report, RBI likely sold dollars via state run banks from 55.75 rupee levels.

Sudarshan Sukhani of s2analytics.com sees Nifty hovering in a narrow trading range. He expects Nifty to find support at 4,800 levels and resistance somewhere above that. He suggests that one should sell if Nifty breaches 4,800 levels.

There is likely to be some support from Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) outlook report observation that India’s economic growth is likely to rise to more than 7.5 percent in calendar year 2013. However, the commodities stocks are likely to remain under pressure; also the microfinance companies may keep buzzing as the government brought before Parliament the much-awaited microfinance bill, which allows the RBI to regulate the sector and cap interest rates.

Results today: There will be some important result announcements as well. BHEL, Canara Bank, Chennai Petro, JB Chemicals, Mangalore Refinery, REC, Tata Global and Tech Mahindra are among the many to announce their numbers today.

Stocks in news

NMDC’s Australian arm Legacy Iron is set to acquire six coal tenements in Queensland.

Neyveli Lignite Corporation is lining up investments to the tune of Rs24000 crore for setting up power plants across the country in the next four years.

IRDA finds ‘massive problems’ in SKS Micro’s insurance operations.

Coal India Ltd recorded 5.75 percent growth in production in the first seven weeks of this fiscal compared to the same period in 2010-11.

Power Finance Corporation Ltd said it will raise $250mn through external commercial borrowing. PFC is also looking at expanding its portfolio by funding coal mining projects overseas.

Idea Cellular announced up to 70 percent reduction in 3G tariffs.

Great Offshore may consider restructuring its debt due to delay on its part in servicing bank loans.

Dhanlaxmi Bank has extended the last date for subscribing to its Rs200 cr tier-II bond offering to June 1 from May 21 as the bank is struggling to find investors.

NTPC has decided to continue to import thermal coal on its own this year, as it is unhappy with the terms of the fuel supply agreement with Coal India.

Tata Power’s top line beat estimates with total income coming in 44% higher boosted by higher power capacity and coal production. However, the company posted a loss of Rs 629 crores year on year due to provision for impairment and deferred stripping costs at KPC.