Stocks open lower; Metals, IT fall

MUMBAI: Equities opened lower on Monday following the weakness across Asian peers. Metals and technology stocksled declines. ( Watch ) Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex was trading at 15738, down 184 points or 1.15 per cent while National Stock Exchange’s Nifty shed 66 points to 4665. “We expect our market to open down but see a recovery from lower levels. We are positive for the day.

Markets are expected to trade between 4693-4629 on the lower side while resistance lies between 4793-4810,” said Religare Research. Asian stocks tumbled, led by mining companies, after Chinese companies reported lower profit. The Nikkei fell 0.35 per cent, Topix lost 0.33 per cent, Hang Seng tumbled 2.19 per cent and Straits Times shed 1.26 per cent. But the worst hit was the Chinese markets.

China's main stock index fell more than 5 percent on Monday to a three-month low, breaking below the key 125-day moving average used by Chinese investors to delineate a bull versus a bear market, as a series of negative factors has relentlessly weighed down the market since early August. US stocks mostly slipped on Friday after a weak consumer sentiment report offset positive news from bell ethers Dell Inc and Intel Corp.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 36.43 points, or 0.38 per cent, to end at 9,544.20. The Standard &Poor's 500 Index lost 2.05 points, or 0.20 per cent, to 1,028.93. But the Nasdaq Composite Index inched up 1.04 points, or 0.05 percent, to close at 2,028.77.

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