Sensex drops over 100 points; Tech Mahindra up 4% post Q2 results

NEW DELHI: The S&P BSE Sensex slipped over 100 points in morning trade on Friday, weighed down by losses in realty, consumer durables, banks and power stocks. Tracking the muted momentum, the 50-share Nifty index was trading close to its crucial psychological support level of 6150 levels.

Tech Mahindra rallied as much as 3.78 per cent in morning trade after the IT major surprised analysts on Thursday by reporting better than anticipated revenue growth in dollar terms. Revenue came at $758 million increased by 4.7% sequentially, higher than the expectation of 2.7-3% increase.

At 09:20 a.m.; the 50-share index was at 6163, down 23 points or 0.38 per cent. It touched a high of 6,173.75 and a low of 6,139.85 in early trade today.

The S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 20,762, down 61 points or 0.3 per cent. It touched a high of 20,792.30 and a low of 20,645.64 in trade today.

The S&P BSE Midcap Index was down 1.07 per cent and BSE S&P Smallcap Index edged lower by 1.1 per cent.

Among the sectoral indices, the BSE Consumer Durable Index was down 1.03 per cent, followed by the S&P BSE Auto Index which dropped 0.68 per cent and the S&P BSE Capital Goods Index was trading 0.62 per cent.

The BSE IT index was trading 0.3 per cent higher, followed by the BSE Metal index which was up 0.29 per cent, BSE HealthCare index was trading flat with positive bias.

Tata SteelBSE 1.32 % (1.3 per cent), Wipro (0.9 per cent), Cipla (0.66 per cent), Infosys (0.47 per cent) and Sesa Goa (0.15 per cent) were among the major Sensex gainers.

Sun Pharma (1.78 per cent), ONGC (1.73 per cent), BHELBSE 0.86 % (1.34 per cent), GAIL (1.3 per cent) and Maruti SuzukiBSE -1.02 % (1.32 per cent) were among the index losers.

Asian shares slumped to a three-week low after U.S. stocks suffered their biggest fall in more than two months, weighed down by GDP data and surprise interest rate cut by the European Central Bank.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index was trading 0.9 per cent lower at 14,097.50 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was trading 0.4 per cent lower at 22,788.12.

South Korea's Kospi index was trading 0.3 per cent lower at 1,997. China's Shanghai index was trading 0.3 per cent lower at 2,122.

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Asian shares slipped and the dollar inched higher in early Asian trade on Wednesday, as concerns about a possible U.S. government shutdown and uncertainty about the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy outlook made investors hesitant to take aggressive positions.
"Sentiment remained somewhat subdued as investors stayed cautious amid lingering uncertainty on the Fed's stance," analysts at Credit Agricole wrote in a note to clients.
"Adding to that uncertainty is the approaching deadlines for the U.S. fiscal struggle and we expect the market to place increasing focus on that front going forward," they said.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped about 0.1 percent, while Japan's Nikkei stock average .N225 was down 0.2 percent.
The dollar was narrowly higher against its Japanese currency, buying 98.76 yen, while it rose fractionally against a basket of six currencies to 80.588.
The euro was slightly down at $1.3472, with support cited at its August high of $1.3453, pressured by a disappointing German survey overnight.
The September Ifo survey of German business sentiment, released on Tuesday, showed a slight improvement from the previous month and touched a 17-month high, but still fell short of the consensus forecast.
The downbeat survey came a day after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said the bank was prepared to do more to support the region's nascent recovery.
"It seems like an improvement in the euro zone economic data has stalled. In addition, now that Germany's election is over, the market could dust off the issues that had fallen out of focus, such as further aid to Greece," said Masafumi Yamamoto, forex strategist at Praevidentia Strategy.
On Wall Street on Tuesday, U.S. stocks mostly ended lower, extending their slide to a fourth session. The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 0.42 percent, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index 0.25 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite Index managed a modest gain of 0.08 percent.
Tea Party-backed U.S. senators are threatening to stall a bill to fund the U.S. Government.
New York Fed President William Dudley, in an interview on CNBC on Tuesday, defended the central bank's surprise decision last week to refrain from tapering its stimulus because the U.S. economy was weaker than the Fed thought in June. Dudley, a known dove, said he "wouldn't rule out" a stimulus reduction later this year.
U.S. economic data on Tuesday was mixed and lent credence to the Fed's decision to hold policy steady. U.S. home prices gained in July, but consumer confidence slipped in September, underscoring the possibility that higher interest rates and a sluggish economy could brake the housing market recovery.
On the commodities front, copper futures edged up 0.2 percent to $7,159.50, on track to snap a three-session losing streak fuelled by supply concerns and uncertainty about the Fed's policy outlook.
Oil prices firmed against a backdrop of hopeful signals that longstanding tensions in the Middle East could be thawing. U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday cautiously embraced overtures from Iran's new president as the basis for a possible nuclear deal, but a failed effort to arrange a simple handshake between the two leaders underscored entrenched distrust that will be hard to overcome.
Front-month Brent crude for November delivery rose about 0.1 percent to $108.79, while November U.S. crude added 0.2 percent to $103.37 a barrel.