MUMBAI: The Nifty is witnessing selling pressure and was below intermediate support levels as investors booked profits across the board following the rupee's freefall against the dollar. Despite the measures taken by the Reserve Bank of India, the partially convertible rupee hit a fresh all-time low of 55.19 per dollar on demand for the greenback from importers and corporates.
At 2:40 p.m., the Nifty was at 4,862.30, down 43.75 points, or 0.89 percent. It has touched a high of 4,956.35 and a low of 4,856.80 in trade today.
The Sensex was at 16,030.07, down 153.19 points, or 0.95 percent. It has touched a high of 16,366.72 and a low of 16,030.07 in trade today.
The BSE Midcap Index was down 0.68 percent and the BSE Smallcap Index edged 0.45 percent higher.
Among sectoral indices, the BSE Capital Goods Index fell 1.57 percent, the BSE Power Index was 1.50 percent lower, the BSE Metal Index was down 1.47 percent and the BSE Bankex moved 1.24 percent lower.
Tata Power (4.86 percent), Maruti Suzuki (4.57 percent), Sesa Goa (4.53 percent), Sterlite Industries (4.53 percent) and Sun Pharmaceuticals (3.03 percent) are among the top Nifty decliners.
According to dealers, there is talk that Tata Power may report a consolidated loss.
SAIL (1.48 percent), Tata Motors (1.45 percent), HCL Tech (1.22 percent), BHEL (0.80 percent) and TCS (0.51 percent) are among the gainers.
The market breadth was negative on the NSE with 540 gainers against 887 losers.
Foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 79.59 crore on Monday, according to provisional stock exchange data. They sold shares worth Rs 1,069.32 crore in the past five sessions.
European markets opened higher ahead of the European Union summit. The FTSE 100 was up 0.65 percent, the CAC 40 was up 0.55 percent and the DAX moved 0.56 percent higher.
