Friday, the Indian market is trading lower in line with the subdued trend in the other Asian markets after stocks on Wall Street retreated overnight on concerns about the implications of the US Federal Reserve's decision to pump another $1 trillion into the financial system.
The BSE Sensex is moving in a very narrow range. The benchmark is now trading at 8,908, down 94 points over the previous close, while the S&P CNX Nifty is down 0.80% to 2,785.
On the BSE, the market breadth is slightly negative, with 733 gainers compared to 788 stocks that are declining. The broad-based BSE 500 index and the mid-cap index are trading in negative territory, but the small-cap index is showing a marginal gain. The Sensex futures are trading at a premium of 109 points to the benchmark.
Among the major decliners, ICICI Bank, DLF and Larsen & Toubro are losing more than 3% each.
Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, Jaiprakash Associates, State Bank of India, Reliance Infrastructure, HDFC Bank, Maruti Suzuki, HDFC and Reliance Industries are the other prominent losers.
However, metal stocks, namely Hindalco, Tata Steel and Sterlite Industries are trading higher on firm metal prices on the London Metal Exchange. Grasim Industries, Sun Pharma, ITC, Tata Power and Grasim Industries are also trading in the green.
Satyam Computers is rising 2.82% despite reports that the company may lower its reported revenues over the past seven years by at least 10-15%. The company's government appointed board would meet today to inspect the bids of potential acquirers and decide a schedule for completing the selection process.
Reliance Industries is down 0.79% on reports that it is in discussions with Essar Oil to source petroleum products from the latter's refinery in Vadinar in Gujarat in an attempt to restart its retail outlets.
Grasim is up 0.81%, while Larsen & Toubro is losing 2.65% following reports that the two companies are close to reaching an agreement over a 7 year-old legal dispute.
Unitech is down 1.11% on reports that it has plans to launch mid-segment residential projects in the range of Rs.5-10 lakh in several metro and suburban cities.
SpiceJet is down 0.56% on reports that it cut fares on all bookings made 30 days or more in advance by up to Rs.600 a ticket. Akruti City is plunging 26.20% to Rs.1, 643.90 after the National Stock Exchange barred the stock from trading in the futures and options segment from March 27 onwards.
