FIRST TRADE (September 30): Sensex down 360 pts, Nifty trades weak by 90 pts at 26,087

FIRST TRADE (Septemeber 30): Indian equities tracking weak Asian markets opened lower after Friday's consolidation. At the open, Sensex traded with a cut of 0.42 per cent or 359.8 points at 85,212.05, while the Nifty was down 0.35 per cent or 92.2 points at 26,086.75.

Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services said, "Market is likely to move into a consolidation phase in the near-term. One significant factor that is influencing foreign portfolios is the outperformance of the Chinese stocks which is reflected in the massive surge in the Hang Seng index by around 18 % in September."

This surge has been triggered by hopes of revival in the Chinese economy in response to the monetary and fiscal stimulus announced by the Chinese authorities. The cheap valuations of Chinese stocks are keeping the momentum intact, he added.

Sectorally, all the indices except realty, consumer durables and metals were trading in the red. Metal stocks got a fillip amid stimulus measures in China. NMDC emerged as the top gained up over 4 per cent at the last count.

Zomato shares will be in focus after CLSA continued with its outperform call on the stock and sought a 27 per cent potential upside. At the start, the stock traded with a cut of 1 per cent.

Lupin, meanwhile, after receiving 3 observations in respect of the recent inspection, traded with a minor cut.

Asian markets

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A strife in the Middle East outweighed China stimulus. Meanwhile, Japan's Nikkei was down as much as 5 per cent amid expectations that the country's new minister favours normalising interest rates.

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