Sensex sheds 159 points; oil rout spooks global markets

Indian equity shares edged lower, snapping a three-day winning streak, dragged down by energy stocks such as Oil and Natural Gas Corp tracking fall in crude prices, while profit-taking hit some of the recent outperformers.

However, the losses were limited as interest rate-sensitive stocks gained after a better-than-expected December retail inflation data raised hopes that the central bank would cut rates in February.

The 30-share BSE index Sensex shed 159.54 points at 27,425.73 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty fell 23.6 points at 8,299.40.

Mid and small-cap cement stocks are up- Prism cement up 10%, Heidelberg Cement up 8%, JK Lakshmi Cement up 3%

— Rajalakshmi Nirmal (@crajalakshmic) January 13, 2015

Barring FMCG and healthcare, all other BSE sectoral indices ended in the red. Among them, realty index fell the most by 1.85 per cent, followed by consumer durables 1.2 per cent, oil & gas 1.06 per cent and power 0.9 per cent, while FMCG index was up 0.72 per cent and healthcare 0.14 per cent.

After yesterday's shivers about divestment, Coal India opens flat/slightly up today. Company's new head keen on modernization

— Meera Siva (@siva_meera) January 13, 2015

Gainers, losers

Major Sensex gainers were Maruti 1.25%, Wipro 1.18%, Coal India 0.77%, ITC 0.64% and Dr Reddy's 0.64%, while the top five losers were ONGC 2.37%, ICICI Bank 1.57%, Hero MotoCorp 1.45%, Tata Power 1.37% and Tata Steel 1.37%.

'No definite proposal' for mega merger (Hindustan Zinc, Cairn, Sesa) notes company's response to the exchange; HZ stock flat-up slightly

— Meera Siva (@siva_meera) January 13, 2015

Global market :

European stocks fell in early trading on Tuesday, with the relentless drop in oil prices fuelling worries over the prospect for corporate profits in the energy sector.

At 0803 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 0.5 per cent at 1,351.67 points.

Oberoi Realty announced the launch of 2 developments, Eternia and Enigma, at Mulund Stock up 1.7% today #realty

— Meera Siva (@siva_meera) January 13, 2015

Asian stocks were mostly on the defensive on Tuesday as the continuing slide in crude oil prices turned investors cautious towards risk assets, with the dollar touching a one-month low against the safe-haven yen in choppy trading.

South Korea's KOSPI dipped 0.1 per cent and Australian shares fell 0.3 per cent. Tokyo's Nikkei led losses in the region, declining 1.4 per cent.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan see-sawed in and out of the red and was last up 0.1 per cent.

The volatile Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.1 per cent, trimming the bulk of its earlier gains.

Overnight, US stocks ended lower led by another sharp decline in energy shares as oil prices tumbled about 5 per cent and concern grew ahead of corporate earnings season.

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