The  market opened on a weak note as a sudden shock from Cyprus rattled investors’ nerves across globe. Banks in Cyprus have decided to impose a levy on depositors amid wide protests, which led to a fear of contagion across the financial system in Europe. Benchmark indices reacted to the news, following its Asian peers. The Sensex lost 159.36 points at 19268.20 while the Nifty fell 47.15 points or 0.80% at 5825.45.

Biggest losers on the Sensex were Coal India (down 4.3 percent), Bharti Airtel (down 2.3 percent) and Hindalco (down 1.9 percent). Investors of Coal India were reacting negatively to government’s plan to divest 10 percent in the company. The government hopes to mop up Rs 20,000 crore helping to reach atleast half of the divestment target of Rs 40,000 crore in FY 14.

Bharti Airtel is likely to face another show cause notice for sharing its 3G airwaves with Vodafone and Idea, telecom department officials said. Oil and gas (index down 1.1 percent) along with rate sensitive like BSE Bankex (down 1.2 percent) and BSE Realty (down 1.6 percent) were on the downside. Investors seem to be cautious ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s mid-quarter monetary policy on March 19.

Among the banking stocks, ICICI Bank (down 1.8 percent), Axis Bank (down 2.8 percent) and HDFC Bank (down 0.8 percent) were still reeling under the money laundering expose.

Meanwhile, FMCG and technology stocks seemed to be supporting the stock market. On the gainers side were HUL (up 1 percent), Sun Pharma and Cipla.

GLOBAL MARKETS ROUNDUP

The yen firmed and Asian shares slipped on Monday after an unusual bailout proposal for Cyprus rattled investor nerves, while Friday’s halt to Wall Street’s long winning streak further dampened sentiment.

The euro plunged and traders squeezed the yen sharply higher on Monday in Asia as news that Cyprus’ bailout plan includes taxing depositors was taken as a dangerous precedent that could ultimately trigger bank runs elsewhere in the region.  Brent crude dropped more than $1 to below $109 a barrel early on Monday, as the dollar firmed after an unusual bailout proposal for Cyprus threatened to trigger fresh turmoil in the euro zone.

U.S. Treasuries prices rose on Friday as lower stock prices and an unexpected drop in March U.S. consumer sentiment enhanced the allure of safe-haven U.S. government debt.

LOCAL MARKETS PREVIOUS CLOSE
* BSE index 19,427.56 (-0.73 pct)
* NSE index 5,872.60 (-0.62 pct)
* Rupee 54.02/03 per dollar (54.355/365)
* 10-year bond yield 7.86 pct (7.86 pct)
* 5-year OIS rate 7.16 pct (7.19 pct)
* 1-year OIS rate 7.50 pct (7.54 pct)
* Call money 7.80/7.90 pct (7.75/7.80 pct)

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