 "Sensex, Nifty remain weak; banks and IT shares lose sheen")
Markets are trading lower in the late noon trades as investors turn cautious ahead of the GDP data which is due to be released on Friday and RBI monetary policy scheduled next week. Profit taking in IT and banking stocks have pulled the benchmark indices lower.
Analysts are attributing the weakness to the derivate expiry tomorrow. The next trigger for the market would be how the winter session transpires, they add.
At 1 PM, the Sensex Is down 33 points at 28,305 and the Nifty has sipped lower by 12 points to trade at 8,451.
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However, the broader markets are outperforming the large counterparts. BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up between 0.5-1%.
The rupee is trading at 61.80/81 versus Tuesday's close of 61.86/87. Gains in other Asian currencies vs the dollar is hurting sentiment for the pair.
Sectors and Hot stocks:
On the sectoral front, BSE IT index is the top loser down 0.5% followed by Bankex, Teck and Healthcare indices trading lower between 0.1-0.5%. However, BSE Power and Realty indices are up over 1% each.
From the auto space, Bajaj Auto is the top loser down nearly 2% after Nigeria's central bank devalued the naira by 8 percent and raised interest rates sharply on Tuesday. Nearly 12% of Bajaj Auto's revenues come from Nigeria - analysts. Maurti and Tata Motors are down 0.5% each.
The other stock in red on account of this news is Bharti Airtel down 1.5% as Nigeria is Bharti Airtel's biggest market in Africa.
Among the banks, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank was down 0.7-1.4%. SBI was flat with a positive bias.
Among IT scrips, Infosys, TCS and Wipro are lower by 0.2-01% on account of profit taking.
Metal stocks are trading mixed. Hindalco and Tata Steel are down 1% and 0.3% respectively. While, Sesa Sterlite is up 1.% and Coal India has gained 0.6%.
In the financial segment, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and HDFC Bank have lost between 0.5-1.3% on profit taking. The stocks had rallied in the recent past following the merger of Kotak Mahindra Bank and ING Vysya Bank.
FMCG major and Cigarette maker ITC has gained 1.5%, having recovered from yesterday's slump as analysts do not see the new restrictions on the sale of cigarettes materially affecting the company's revenues.
Tata Power has gained 0.8% on Central Electricity Regulatory Commission passing the Tariff Order for the 1050 MW power plant of Maithon Power Limited, a joint venture between Tata Power and Damodar Valley Corporation. This will pave the way for meeting the targeted returns from the project.
GAIL, Cipla, BHEL, M&M, Hero Motocorp and SBI have gained between 0.5-3% and are some of the prominent names in green among others.
Among other shares, shares of V-Guard Industries have gained 5% to Rs 1,128 in otherwise subdued market on National Stock Exchange (NSE).
Shares of Greenply Industries are locked in lower circuit, down 14% to Rs 948 on BSE after the stock turned ex-demerger today.
The market breadth is positive on the BSE with 1,486 shares advancing and 1,119 shares declining.