 "Markets remain under pressure; Nifty hovers at 8,400")
At 11.30 AM, the Sensex was at 27,856, down 236 points or 0.8% and the Nifty was at 8,417, down 66 points.
The broader markets have, however, rebounded from their intra-day lows; the BSE Midcap is now down 0.2% at 10,842 and the Smallcap index has actually inched into the green at 11,308.
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RUPEE
After four days of rise, the rupee turned weak and declined by 18 paise to 63.62 against the US currency in early trade today at the Interbank Foreign Exchange due to the dollar's gain against other currencies overseas.
OIL
The US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in August plummeted $1.88 to $55.05 a barrel and Brent crude tumbled 50 cents to $59.82 in late-morning Asian trades.
SECTORS & STOCKS
Among the index heavyweights, Vedanta, Tata Motors, Hindalco and Tata Steel are the biggest losers on the BSE, while Dr Reddy's, Cipla and Hero Motocorp have managed to buck the trend in a weak market.
On the sectoral front, the metal sector has shed nearly 2%, while the banking, capital goods and IT indices have lost around 1% each.
In the metal space, Vedanta has nosedived by 4%, while Jindal Steel, NMDC and Tata Steel have shed 2-3% each.
In the banking space, ICICI Bank, SBI, HDFC Bank and Yes Bank have slipped 1-2% each on the Sensex.
In the IT space, Infosys, Wipro and TCS have lost around 1% each, while the capital goods space has seen the likes of L&T, BHEL and BEL losing 1% each.
On the other hand, the pharma space has been the saving grace in an otherwise weak market. Dr Reddy's, Cipla and Biocon have gained 1-3% each.
The market breadth is weak. Out of 2,221 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 974 advancing stocks as against 1,172 declines.