Sensex slips 100 pts, Nifty weak; Bharti Airtel down 2%

The market extended its losses in early trade on Thursday following weakness in global peers over Fed tapering fears, continuing fall for the third consecutive session.

The Sensex fell 115.60 points to 21,055.81, and the Nifty declined 31.45 points to 6,276.45.

The top Sensex losers are– Bharti down 3.4 pct, Tata Motors down 1.9 pct, L&T down 1.7 pct, Tata Power down 1 pct.

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The rupee is trading at 61.64 versus the dollar, lower than yesterday’s close of 61.245/255.

After high prices contributed to electoral losses for the Congress, the finance minister and RBI governor said on Wednesday tackling inflation will be a priority.

Meanwhile, Standard & Poor’s said on Wednesday that India’s sovereign rating may come under pressure if general elections due by May next year end up with a hung parliament or with a government unable to push through reforms.

“If it is a hung parliament or if the government is unable to effect reforms, definitely by implication the rating will come under pressure,” said Terry Chan, credit analyst at Standard & Poor’s during a teleconference with reporters.

Asian markets are weak with the Nikkei down over a percent. US markets on Wednesday dropped sharply for a second session with S&P 500 and Nasdaq seeing their biggest losses in nearly five weeks as fears of tapering grow. European equities too slip.

Stocks in news:

Maruti Suzuki is down 0.50 percent. The car maker is offering customers the biggest cash discounts of 10-12% since it was established in 1981 to boost sagging sales.

Coal India is down 1.61 percent. The company said it will take appropriate legal action against CCI order. Competition Commission of India had slapped Rs 1,773 crore penalty on Coal India for abusing dominant position.

Bharti Airtel is down 1.98 percent. Bharti and Reliance Jio (subsidiary of Reliance Industries) are in pact for telecom infrastructure sharing.