Markets remain weak, heavyweights weigh

Markets continued to trade on a weak note owing to the negative global cues and selling pressure visible across most of the sectors.

The Sensex was at 16,620, down 200 points and the Nifty shed 61 points at 4,979. Earlier in the day, the Sensex touched a low of 16,580.

Meanwhile, the European markets have also opened lower adding to worries in the Indian markets. England's FTSE was down 127 points to 5,293, CAC 40 index lost 79 points or 2.5% to 3,063 and the DAX was at 5,538, down 3.4% or 192 points.

Back home, index heavyweights such as Infosys, ONGC and Reliance Industries were among the top losers on the Sensex. Infosys was down nearly 3% to Rs 2,251, ONGC shed 2.7% to Rs 257 and Reliance Industries was also trading weaker by 2.3% to Rs 786.

Hindalco, HDFC, Sterlite Industries, Wipro, ICICI Bank, TCS, Cipla, BHEL and Tata Power were also trading lower by 1.5-2.2% each.

On the other hand, Hero MotoCorp was the top gainer. The stock gained 3.6% to a fresh 52-week high price of Rs 2,143. Jindal Steel, Bajaj Auto, J P Associates, Mahindra & Mahindra and Larsen & Toubro were also among the notable gainers.

Most of the sectoral indices were trading in the negative territory. The BSE IT index was the top sectoral loser, down over 2% or 106 points to 4,889. Oil & Gas index also shed nearly 2% or 156 points to 8,377. Healthcare, Power, PSU, FMCG, Bankex, Metal and Capital Goods indices also languished in intra-day deals. At the same time, Consumer Durables, Auto and Realty indices were among the gainers.

Mild selling pressure was also visible in the broader market space. The BSE mid-cap index was at 6,320, lower by 4 points and the small-cap index was down 12 points at 7,121.

The overall breadth was marginally negative as 1,341 stocks declined while 1,204 stocks advanced.