Markets open lower as political uncertainty weighs

Commentary

oi-Sneha

By Sunil

Published: Thursday, September 20, 2012, 9:32 [IST]

Markets opened the day lower as political uncertainty following the TMC withdrawal of support to the UPA government weighed on sentiments.

The Sensex was trading lower by 109 points at 18,386 points, while the Nifty was trading lower by 37 points at 9.20 am IST. Among the top gainers in trade today were ITC, BPCL, HCL Tech and Maruti Suzuki.

Shares of State Bank of India were trading lower by Rs 45, following the bank's decision to cut the base lending rate by 25 basis points.

Shares of Jet Airways surged after the company was reportedly in talks with Etihad Airways for a minority stake in the company.

High beta names like metal and banking stocks lost ground in trade today with Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Jindal Steel, Sterlite and Hindalco all shedding gains in early trade. Heavyweight Reliance Industries was down 1% in trade.

Steel conglomerate Tata Steel saw its share price decline even after the company received a Letter of Intent from Eiffage Rail for the supply of high-quality rail for a new 182 km (113 mile) high-speed line in France.

Asian shares were all trading deeply in the red with Singapore's Strait Times, Hong Kong's Hang Sang, Japanese Nikkei and the Korean Kospi all down.

Markets are expected to continue to show volatility following the political uncertainty. Volumes are also expected to remain low today as a Bharat bandh has been declared by the opposition parties.

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