Nifty slips below 5,900; banks, tech, FMCG, pharma down

MUMBAI: The Nifty slipped below the psychological mark of 5,900 as the bulls took a breather after the recent sharp rally in benchmark indices. According to analysts, the market is expected to consolidate near current levels and take cues from the Reserve Bank of India\'s policy meet.



\"The Nifty, which has gained 4.1 per cent since the expiry of the last derivatives contract on March 28 may look at some consolidation now. The Indian indices have been scaling on expectations of a rate cut at the Reserve Bank of India\'s upcoming annual monetary policy review next week,\" said an IIFL report.



\"Globally, major central banks are expected to ease monetary policy further. Rate sensitive stocks will remain in focus in anticipation of a rate cut by RBI on May 3,\" the report added.



At 11:15 a.m., the 50-share index was at 5,884.55, down 31.75 points or 0.54 per cent. It touched a high of 5,907.05 and a low of 5,878.50 in trade today.



The Sensex was at 19,336.37, down 70.48 points or 0.36 per cent. It touched a high of 19,384.95 and a low of 19,310.07 in trade today.



\"The index has been rising in a well defined channel since its recent lows; as long as the channel support at 5,850 holds, the index is likely to trade with positive bias and edge higher towards 5,950-5,970 levels. Only a breach of the channel at 5,850 would lead to a breakdown indicating a change in trend in which case the index could correct lower towards 5,800-5,750,\" said an Aditya Birla Money report.



\"Daily momentum is turning flat at extreme overbought zone; while intraday momentum has been forming negative divergence with prices by not confirming the recent highs,\" the report added.



The S&P BSE Midcap Index was down 0.01 per cent and the S&P BSE Smallcap Index was 0.12 per cent higher.



Among the sectoral indices, the S&P BSE Bankex fell 1.26 per cent, the S&P BSE IT Index was down 1.05 per cent, the S&P BSE FMCG Index slipped 0.57 per cent and the S&P BSE Healthcare Index was 0.43 per cent lower. The S&P BSE Realty Index was up 0.54 per cent and the S&P BSE Metal Index was 0.37 per cent higher.



HCL Tech (3.41 per cent), M&M (2.51 per cent), Axis BankBSE -2.03 % (2.03 per cent), TCS (1.95 per cent) and Jindal Steel (1.88 per cent) were among the top Nifty losers.



Bharti AirtelBSE 4.70 % (5.48 per cent), Bajaj AutoBSE 1.93 % (1.79 per cent), Coal India (1.62 per cent), GAIL (1.61 per cent) and Asian Paints (1.55 per cent) were among the top gainers.



Idea CellularBSE 6.41 % surged higher a day after the telecom operator reported better-than-expected results for the March 2013 quarter. The company reported revenue of Rs 6,061.4 crore compared to ET Now Poll of Rs 5,856 crore. Net profit rose sequentially by 35 per cent to Rs 308.2 crore, supported by better operating performance and lower interest costs compared with the previous quarter.



Market breadth was negative on the NSE with 558 gainers against 674 losers.



Foreign institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 1,449.70 crore while domestic institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 1,269.43 crore on Thursday as per the provisional data from the National Stock Exchange.
News From: http://www.7StarNews.com