Nifty remains under pressure

Fall in metal, banking, FMCG, capital goods and power stocks weighed on the market on first day of the week. The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading at 16,837, down 97 points and the 50-share NSE Niftydropped 29 points to 5,055 amid volatility. ONGC too slipped into the red on the back profit booking (down nearly 1%).

Asian markets too extended their losses; Hang Seng was down 1.5% and Shanghai fell 2.5%. Straits Times, Kospi and Taiwan were down around 1%. On the home turf, the Indian rupee depreciated to 47.75 per dollar, down 0.43.

Reliance Infrastructure, L&T, DLF, Sterlite Industries, ICICI Bank and Cipla were top losers among largecaps; these stocks fell between 2% and 3%.

However, GAIL, Ranbaxy Labs, IDFC, ACC, Wipro, Bharti Airtel, Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors gained 0.5-1.8%.

India Securities, SBI, Tata Motors, Everonn Education, Lovable Lingerie, Reliance Industries, L&T and Infosys were most active shares on exchanges.

In the midcap space, Alfa Laval shot up 15% as company will discuss about delisting in the meeting today.

Honeywell Automation, Sun Pharma Advanced, Fortis Health and ILandFS Transportation gained 4-6% while KGN Industries, Dish TV India, Simplex Infra, Puravankara Projects and Coromandel International lost 2-5%.

About 678 shares advanced as against 652 shares declined on National Stock Exchange.

6.8 earthquake hits Sikkim, tremors felt in North India

An earthquake measuring 6.8 on the richter scale hit North India on Sunday and the epicentre was 64 km from Gangtok in Sikkim. It was 10 km (6.2 miles) deep. Mild tremors were felt in Delhi and other parts of North India. Tremors were felt in Patna, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal also.

Reports said that tremors were felt for almost 30 seconds. People in most parts of North and East India rushed out of their homes in panic.Reports said that aftershocks were also felt around Sikkim 20 minutes after the earthquake. Chief Election Commissioner SY Qureshi who was staying in a hotel in Bhutan said that there were minor cracks in the hotel.

There were no initial reports of any major damage. RS Dattatreya, Director, Seismology in the Met Department said that there were possibility of aftershocks only in the area around the epicenter. This is the second earthquake felt in Delhi in the last 10 days.

6.8 magnitude earthquake in sikkim strong tremors felt in North India

Strong tremors were felt in parts of North and East India after an earthquake of 6.8 magnitude shook Sikkim this evening. (Buzz on Twitter) The epicentre of the quake is said to be just 64 kilometres North-West of Gangtok. The tremors were felt in Lucknow, Patna, Kolkata, New Delhi and the National Capital Region. (Forum: Did you feel the tremors?) There are reports of telephone lines snapping and power cuts in parts of Sikkim. The quake comes just days after an earthquake of 4.2 magnitude hit Haryana's Sonepat district, sending tremors in New Delhi.

Breaking news: Petrol to be dearer by Rs 3.14 per litre

State-owned oil companies are all set to hike petrol prices by around Rs 3 per litre which will be effective from midnight.

"Looks like the hike will be over Rs 3.14 per litre," a top official at one of the three state-run fuel retailers said.

Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp(BPCL) and Hindsutan Petroleum Corp (HPCL) now lose Rs 2.61 per litre due to high international crude oil prices and with rupee touching two-year low against the US dollar, the losses have increased the cost of importing crude oil.

"After adding local taxes, the hike needed at retail level comes to over Rs 3 per litre," the official said.

Petrol price were last hiked by Rs 5 per litre on May 15. It costs Rs 63.70 per litre in Delhi.

"The exact quantum of hike at different cities is being worked out," the official said.

Petrol price was freed from the government control in June last year but the retail rates have not moved in line with cost as high inflation rate forced the oil companies to seek 'advice' from parent oil ministry before revising rates.

IOC, BPCL and HPCL have lost Rs 2,450 crore this fiscal on selling petrol below the cost.

Besides petrol, the three firms are losing Rs 263 crore per day on selling diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene below cost. Diesel is being sold at a subsidy of Rs 6.05 a litre, kerosene at Rs 23.25 per litre while domestic LPG rates are under-priced by Rs 267 per 14.2-kg cylinder.

Rupee fell to 48 per dollar yesterday for the first time since September 2009. "Every rupee depreciation, the under-recovery (revenue loss) increases annually by around Rs 9,000 crore," he said.

Sensex flat in afternoon trade

A benchmark index for the Indian equities markets Thursday was ruling flat in afternoon trade as traders took a breather after the rally in the previous session and awaited the monetary policy update scheduled Friday.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 16,837.76 points, was ruling at 16,738.49 points, up 37.17 points or 0.22 percent from its previous close at 16,709.6 points.

It rose to a high of 16,843.98 points in early trade but later slipped to touch a low of 16,545.47 points.

The 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange too was trading higher at 5,037.15 points, up 0.49 percent.

The Reserve Bank of India will take a call on raising interest rates when it meets Friday to review the monetary policy.

Broader markets were largely subdued with the BSE 100 index up 0.4 percent. Realty, IT, consumer durables and telecom stocks were on the rise, while capital goods declined.

The market breadth was positive with 1,382 stocks advancing, compared to 1,168 on the decline and 93 remaining unchanged.

Sensex gainers at this time included DLF, Tata Motors, TCS and SBI, while the losers included Maruti Suzuki, L&T, Tata Steel and ONGC.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei closed 1.76 percent up at 8,668.86 points, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was trading flat at 19,068.54 points.

Chinese markets edged lower with the Shanghai Composite index closing 0.23 percent lower at 2,479.05 points.

European bourses rose amid optimism that the Germany and France would unveil new steps to help curb the debt crisis faced by countries in the Euro zone.