Sensex opens weak, rupee below 62; SpiceJet down 4%

The market has opened on a negative note. The Sensex is down 30.47 points at 20792.30. The Nifty slips 17.10 points to 6170.15.

Meanwhile, the Indian rupee opened lower by 28 paise at 62.69 per dollar against 62.41 Thursday.

Aditya Narain of Citigroup feels Indian market has seen the second largest upswing into Diwali over the last eight years. “Our takeaways of Diwali demand suggest a slow economy and an equity market running ahead of the underlying,” he told CNBC-Tv18. Narain remains cautious on the market at current levels and maintains 18,900 Sensex target for December 2013.

[caption id=“attachment_1178367” align=“alignright” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters.[/caption]

The euro struggles in early Asian trade after the European Central Bank’s surprise interest rate cut sent the single currency plunging to near eight-week lows, but the dollar’s gains were tempered ahead of the key US payrolls report due later today.

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Pramit Brahmbhatt, Alpari India said, “ECB’s surprise move to cut interest rates to 0.25 percent forced euro to trade weak against the dollar. This coupled with weak domestic fundamentals and weak equity markets will keep the rupee weak. The range for the day is seen between Rs 62.12-63.10/USD.”

The US markets fell sharply with the Dow halting its record advance and Twitter’s market debut drawing the spotlight, as investors reacted to an unexpected rate cut by the European Central Bank and a read on third-quarter US economic growth. After closing at record highs on Tuesday, the S&P 500 fell over 1 percent marking its worst session since August 27. The CBOE volatility index rose to within reach of 14.

Meanwhile, Standard & Poor’s said on Thursday it will review India’s rating once a new government due to be elected next year lays out its policy agenda, reducing the prospect of a destabilising downgrade to below investment grade ahead of the polls.That could delay the next review until after May 2014, by when India is due to hold a general election, although S&P added it could move earlier should the country’s fiscal or external standing deteriorate.

The credit rating agency said it would cut India’s current rating, at the lowest investment grade, should the next government fail to provide a credible plan to reverse low economic growth.

Stocks in news:

Airline SpiceJet Ltd is down 4.02% after reported a record quarterly loss on Thursday, hit by high fuel prices and weaker rupee but said it expected its international expansion would help cut costs.

Tata Motors is down 2 percent ahead of announcing its September quarter results today. According to a CNBC-TV18 poll, analysts expect strong results on a consolidated basis led by a drastic improvement in Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) operational performance.

Tech Mahindra is up3 percent on the back of good performance in the September quarter results . Its consolidated net profit grew 4.7 percent sequentially (up 57.6 percent on yearly basis) to Rs 718 crore, impacted by forex loss and lower other income.