Global cues drag Sensex 115 pts down; ADAG, pvt banks dip

Indian equity benchmarks retreated on Thursday after gains seen in previous two sessions, reacting to weak global cues and 2G case news. The Nifty has swung around the 5550 level while the Sensex shed more than 100 points in trade today.

Hemen Kapadia of chartpundit.com said markets could drift tomorrow also. "5560 is an important level. We are obviously quoting below that. So the next level comes in at 5505 and beyond that I am not sure if there is too much downside beyond 5450. So that's where I would put it as worst come scenario but 5500 is psychologically and technically an important level."

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 115 points, to close at 18,494 and the 50-share NSE Nifty lost 42 points, to end at 5,550.

Asian and European markets lost ground today following fall in US markets yesterday post disappointing manufacturing data and Moody's downgraded Greece by three notches. Major Asian markets like Shanghai, Hang Seng, Nikkei and Kospi were down 1-1.5%.

European markets like France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE were trading around 1% lower, at the time of closing of Indian equities. US markets had fallen more than 2% on Wednesday.

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group companies' shares took huge beating in last one hour of trade, especially after the news that CBI Trial Court will pass order on plea to probe Anil Ambani at 4 pm today. Reliance Communications and Reliance Infrastructure lost over 4%. Reliance Power and Reliance Capital fell 2.7% each.