Sensex creeps up from day’s lows

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A benchmark index for Indian equities markets on Tuesday crept up from its intra-day lows but was still languishing about 140 points down in the afternoon trade. Broader indices too were in the negative.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 19,596.32 points, was ruling at 19,443.74 points, down 140.57 points or 0.72 per cent from its previous close at 19,584.31 points. The 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange was also trading 0.65 percent lower at 5,836.5 points. Broader markets were ruling in the red as well with the BSE midcap index trading 0.26 per cent down and the BSE small cap index ruling 0.33 per cent lower.

Among major gainers on the 30-scrip Sensex at this time were Hindalco, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications and Jindal Steel, while the losers included M&M, HDFC, Hindustan Unilever and Maruti Suzuki. The market breadth was negative with 1,081 stocks advancing, 1,645 on the decline and 111 remaining unchanged. Other Asian markets closed in a slump as traders were cautious ahead of release of key corporate earnings reports.

The Japanese Nikkei average closed 1.17 per cent lower at 9,558.69 points, while the Shanghai composite index of the Chinese stock exchanges shed 0.88 percent at 2,938.98 points. The Hang Seng of the Hong Kong stock exchange shed 0.68 per cent at 23,973.97 points.