Markets continued to trade on a weak note in the last hour of trade, the Sensex was at 18,305 lower by 164 points and the S&P CNX Nifty was lower by 50 points at 5480.
Most of the Asian markets were trading in the red, Nikkei was at 10,432 lower by 156 points, Taiwan lost 107 points at 8642, Hang Seng was at 23,647 lower by 162 points and the Shanghai was lower by 1.2% at 2965.
Back home, all the sectoral indices continued to trade in the red, Banking, Metal, IT and PSU indices were trading lower by 1-1.5% each.
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(Updated at 10.30 am)
After a sluggish opening the markets slipped further on back of weak global cues and concerns regarding rising crude oil prices.
The Sensex was at 18,289 lower by 180 points and the S&P CNX Nifty was at 5476 lower by 55 points.
ICICI Bank, Tata Power, State Bank of India, Jindal Steel, TCS, Hindalco, Tata Steel, J P Associates, L&T, Bajaj Auto and ONGC were among the top losers on the Sensex. Meanwhile Reliance Infrastructure and Mahindra & Mahindra were the only gainers.
All the sectoral indices fell prey to the selling pressure, BSE Banking index- Bankex was the top sectoral loser the index was at 12,268 lower by 190 points or 1.5%, BSE Metal index lost 178 points at 15,695. IT index was also lower by 1%. Teck, healthcare, PSU, Realty, Oil & Gas, Capital Goods, Power, FMCG and Consumer Durable indices were also trading lower by 0.5-1% each.
Kotak Mahindra Bank was the top loser among the banking stocks, the stock was trading at Rs 423 lower by nearly 2%, State Bank of India, Yes Bank, ICICI Bank, Canara Bank, Bank of India and Axis Bank were also trading lower by 1.6-2% each. Among the metal stocks JSW Steel was the top loser followed by Jindal Saw, Jindal Steel, Welspun Corp, Hindalco, Hindustan Zinc and Tata Steel.
The broader markets were also trading marginally lower, the BSE mid-cap index was lower by 11 points at 6593 and the small-cap index lost 7 pointsto 8002.
The overall market breadth turned negative as 1103 stocks declined while 867 stocks advanced.