Market extends slide, Nifty slips below 10,100; Shilpa Medicare drops 5%

Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty opened on a cautious note on Wednesday ahead of the outcome of the two-day rate-setting meeting of RBI. Asian markets were trading weak following an overnight fall in US shares.

At 9.25 am, the 30-share Sensex was trading 70.41 points, or 0.21 per cent, lower at 32,732.03. The index was down 70.41 points in the morning trade. The NSE barometer Nifty50 index was trading 39.15 points, or 0.39 per cent, lower at 10,079.10 around the same time.

There were also reports that life insurer LIC will not aggressively invest in equities for the remaining part of the year. The corporation has invested Rs 44,000 crore in equity in April-November, a 50 per cent jump over Rs 29,000 crore that it invested during the same period last year. 

"We are of the opinion that a pullback move, if any, would be temporary in nature and we continue to expect the emergence of selling if Nifty manages to bounce in the vicinity of 10,200-10,270. On the flipside, a breach of yesterday's low of 10,069.10 around the same time.

Among Sensex stocks, Tata SteelBSE -2.07 % fell 1.84 per cent to Rs 663.50. SBI, Adani Ports and ICICI BankBSE -0.52 % declined up to 1 per cent. Bajaj AutoBSE -1.29 %, Tata Motors, HDFC, HDFC BankBSE -0.50 % and Hero MotoCorp were other major index losers.

On the upside, CiplaBSE 0.43 % rose 0.93 per cent to Rs 602. Reliance IndustriesBSE 1.16 % advanced 0.76 per cent to Rs 918.45. InfosysBSE 0.57 %, LupinBSE 0.17 % and Kotak Mahindra bankBSE 0.35 % added 0.75 per cent, 0.29 per cent and 0.28 per cent, respectively.