After opening on a weak note this morning, Indian equities fell further on the back of heavy selling pressure seen across all sectoral indices.

Bankex (-3.40%), Realty (- 2.39%), Metal (1.44%) and Consumer Durables (-1.42%) were among the worst hit sectors.
 
The BSE Sensex was moving aimlessly ahead of monthly derivatives expiry, with hopes for rate cuts tempered by mixed Asian markets.

After opening positive, broader indices including BSE Midcap and Smallcap were also trading weak by 0.59% and 0.81% respectively.

At 10.59 a.m., the 30-share index Sensex lost 107.34 points (-1.21%) at 8,795.22. It also hit a high of 8,905.56 and a low of 8,794.83.

Meanwhile the broad based Nifty was trading down by 27.20 points (-0.98%) at 2,735.30 after touching a high of 2,765.90 and a low of 2,731.90.

The overall market breadth was negative with 597 recorded gains, 999 went down whereas 78 remained unchanged.

The top gainers in the 30-share index included Larsen & Toubro (1.40%), Tata Motors (0.82%), Tata Consultancy Services (0.57%), Mahindra & Mahindra (0.39%), and Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (0.11%).

On the other hand, the major losers in the Sensex were Ranbaxy Laboratories (-14.67%), ICICI Bank (-5.43%), HDFC (-4.74%) and DLF (-4.37%).

Mr. Vinod Bansal, director at Ficuswealth.com, stated that the short-term viewpoint for the market remained bearish in spite of hopes for a rate cut to improve sagging growth.

He also said that heavy selling by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) of approximately $1.48 billion thus far this year has been a big fret.

Asian markets traded on a mixed note.

Japanese benchmark index Nikkei gained 13.58 points (0.18%) to trade at 7,447.64.

In the meantime, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index lost 1040.34 points (0.80%) to trade at 12,900.

In the US markets, the Dow Jones industrial average closed down 80.05 points at 7,270.89.

Broader stock indicators also recovered from earlier lows but finished down. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 8.24 at 764.90, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 16.40, or 1.1 percent, to 1,425.43.