Markets remain weak

The markets recovered some of their losses in the past one hour of trade but continued to trade with a negative bias. The Sensex was lower by 179 points at 18,147 and the S&P CNX Nifty was at 5447 lower by 58 points.

According to Deepak Singh Tanwar, a Mumbai based technical analyst, "The outlook still remains negative for the market. The strength will start coming in above 5540. Till this level is not crossed, one should avoid long positions."

Tata Motors was the top loser on the Sensex the stock was trading at Rs 1099 lower by 4.2%. Jindal Steel, ITC, Wipro, Reliance Infrastructure, J P Associates, Larsen & Toubro, Reliance Communication, Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank were also trading lower by 1.2-3.4% each. On the other hand HDFC, Hindalco Industries, Sterlite Industries, DLF, TCS and Bajaj Auto were among the notable gainers.

On the sectoral front consumer durables and metal stocks witnessed some buying but the momentum was shortlived and soon sliped into the red.

FMCG, auto, capital goods, oil & gas and realty stocks continued to witness the heavy selling pressure. BSE FMCG index was the top loser, the index was down 2.2% or 76 points at 3290. Auto, Capital Goods, Oil & Gas and Realty indices were down 1.15-1.4% each. IT, Teck, Healthcare, Power and Bankex indices corrected a bit but traded in the negative zone.

Marico was the top loser among the FMCG stocks, the stock was trading at Rs 119 lower by 1.6%. Nestle, ITC, Colgate Palmolive, Godrej Consumer Products, United Breweries and  Dabur were also trading lower by 1-3.7% each.

On the auto index, Tata Motors led the losers chart followed by Amtek Auto, Exide Industries, Ashok Leyland, Cummins India, Bharat Forge, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki and Hero Honda.

Bharat Petroleum was the top loser among the oil & gas stocks followed by HPCL, Indian Oil, GAIL and Reliance Industries.

The broader markets continued to trade in the negative zone, the BSE mid-cap index was down 57 points at 6810 and the small-cap index was at 8443 down 34 points.