Markets@Moneycontrol: Nifty breaks below 50-DMA, next target placed at 10,350

Equity benchmarks on Wednesday failed to cash in on positive close from the previous session as selling pressure dominated in the penultimate hours of trade which pulled the index below 10,500 levels as well as 50-day moving average.

Weaker rupee, as well as tepid global cues, weighed in on sentiment on D-Street. The Sensex closed lower by 306.33 points at 34,344.91, while the Nifty was down 106.30 points at 10,430.40.

The Nifty50 made a bearish candle on the daily charts and if the index stays below 10,500 then weakness could continue towards 10,350-10,333 levels.

The market breadth was negative as 1,117 shares advanced against a decline of 1,515 shares, while 140 shares are unchanged.

Barring big gains in PSU banks, all sectoral indices managed to end the day in deep red, with maximum cuts visible in the energy space. The Nifty PSU bank index was up over 2 percent, largely on the back of a good surge in State Bank of India.

In the broader markets, midcaps had a weak day, but did not fall to the extent which benchmarks fell. The Nifty Midcap index ended over half a percent lower.

Global markets

Among global markets, European stocks are down around a percent amid uncertainty around Italian government and souring market sentiment over ongoing trade talks between the world's two biggest economies.