Weakness persists, Nifty regains 5,000

Banking stocks amongst the worst hit

Markets continue to remain weak but have witnessed marginal recovery in noon trades. The Sensex is down 255 points at 16,575 and the Nifty is down 80 points at 5,006 levels. Earlier in the day, the Sensex touched the low of 16,513 and the Nifty dropped below 5,000 to touch 4,990.

According to Hormuz Maloo, Technical Analyst, Geojit BNP Paribas Securities, "In the medium term there is some support for the Nifty around 5,900 levels. In the slightly longer term, however, ther market could go lower. We have already declined quite steeply, particularly in the last two days, so it may not be a good time to go short now. But I think that in some time we should be seeing lower levels."

The Asian markets are also trading on a weak note. Hang Seng is down 554 points at 20,532, Shanghai has shed 8 points to 2,444 and the Nikkei is down 261 points at 9,119 levels.

Back home, HDFC Bank is the top loser among the Sensex stocks down 3.6% to Rs 517. Stete Bank of India, Hero MotoCorp, Sterlite industries, Hindalco, Mahindra & Mahindra, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, DLF, jindal Steel, Infosys, Reliance Industries, TCS, Larsen & Toubro, ITC and HUL are also trading lower by 1.5-3.5% each. While BHEL and Cipla are among the notable gainers.

Selling is visible across the board. Banking stocks are amongst the worst hit in trades so far. BSE Bankex is the top sectoral loser down 3% or 312 points at 10,971 levels. Bank of Baroda, Union Bank, Punjab National Bank, Axis Bank, Bank of India, IDBI Bank and Yes Bank are also among the losers down 2-4% each. Realty stocks are also facing the heat of the selling pressure. The BSE Realty index has shed 50 points to 1,577 levels. Unitech, HDIL, Oberoi Realty, Prestige Estates, DLF and Parsvnath Developers are the top losers from this sector.

Metal, IT, PSU, FMCG, teck, oil & gas, capital goods, power, consumer durables auto and healthcare indices are also down nearly 1-2% each.

Among the individual stocks, Thomas Cook (India) has surged 7% to Rs 66 on reports that Thomas Cook Group Plc, the parent company of travel support services firm announced a new financing deal with its lenders which should secure the struggling group's future.

The broader markets are in line with the benchmark indices. The BSE mid-cap index is down nearly 2% or 107 points at 5,993 and the small-cap injdex is down 88 points at 6,499 levels.

The overall breadth is extremely negative as 1,729 stocks are declining while 726 are advancing.