Nifty falls for 4th straight day

Indian markets extended its declining streak to fourth straight trading session as banking stocks were once again mercilessly hammered on Wednesday. Moody’s Investor Service had yesterday downgraded SBI, shares of the public sector banking major slumped another 4%. The Banking index on the BSE and NSE were each down more than 2.5%.

Markets had opened with a positive bias tracking a sharp rally in the last hour of the US trading session, the benchmark indices did manage to remain in the green for first half of the day however eventually gave away all its gains led by selling seen in the Banking, Metals, Oil & Gas and Consumer Durables stocks. Even the Mid-Cap and the Small-Cap index lost 1% each.



Finally, the BSE Sensex ended at 15,792, down 72 points. It had earlier touched a day's high of 16,044 and a day's low of 15,760. It opened at 16,967. The NSE Nifty closed at 4,751, down 21 points.

India VIX, a key measure of traders' perception of volatility in the Indian markets, was down 5% at 35.37 after touching a day's peak of 37.19. It opened at 37.19 and touched a day's low of 34.76.

The Asian markets also were in the red following a downgrade of Italy’s credit rating. Markets in Hong Kong and mainland China were closed for holidays.

The European markets opened with smart gains after reports indicated that Europe will recapitalize its banks to reduce worries of a debt crisis.

The Nifty may find support at the 4730 levels; on the upside 4920 would act as a resistance for the index.

"Deteriorating situation over Greece and its adverse fallout on the European banking system would continue to haunt investors across the globe. Domestically, a lot would depend on the quarterly earnings which would start pouring in from the next week. In addition, IIP and monthly inflation data will also play an important role in setting the tone for the markets," says Amar Ambani, Head of Research, IIFL - India Private Clients.