Benchmark indices have erased early gains and have slipped into negative zone weighed down by selling among consumer durable, realty and technology shares.
By 1310 hrs, the Sensex was down 26 points at 20,076 and the Nifty slipped 6 pts at 6,075
On the global front, the yen and Japanese equities were volatile on Tuesday after the Bank of Japan took bold easing measures, while other Asian stock markets posted modest gains.
The BOJ on Tuesday doubled its inflation target to 2% and adopted an open-ended commitment to buy assets, surprising markets that had expected another incremental increase in its 101 trillion yen asset-buying and lending programme.
Back home, BSE Consumer Durable, Realty and IT indices have declined by 1% each. Apart from Banks, all the major BSE sectoral indices are trading in red zone.
The main losers on the Sensex at this hour include GAIL, Tata Power, Hindalco, Tata Motors and Hero Moto whereas few gainers are Sun Pharma, NTPC and HUL.
Among other shares, DB Corp has rallied 8% to Rs 249 on BSE, its highest level since August 2011, after reporting over 300 bps year-on-year (yoy) expansion in operating margins for the third quarter ended December 31, 2012.
Opto Circuits (India) has tanked 9% to Rs 87, extending its previous day’s almost 9% fall, on back of heavy volumes. The stock of medical device maker is currently trading at its lowest level since May, 2009 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
Stocks of listed retail companies such as Pantaloon, Shopper's Stop and Trent were up in morning trade today on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) following Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance received by Swedish major IKEA for its Rs 10,500 crore investment in the country. This is the largest investment proposal in the single brand retail category so far.
The market breadth in BSE remains weak with 1,491 shares declining and 1,141 shares advancing.
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