Lacklustre trades continue

Breadth negative as 1,602 stocks are declining while 844 are advancing

The markets are witnessing lacklustre trades in the noon deals. The S&P CNX Nifty is down 27 points at 5,212 and the Sensex has shed 84 points to 17,218 levels.

The Asian markets were also trading on a subdued note. Hang Seng has shed 0.5% to 21,211 levels. Taiwan was down 17 points at 7,659 and the Shanghai Composite was trading marginally higher at 2,439 levels.

Back home, Hero MotoCorp is the top loser among the Sensex stocks, the stocks has plunged nearly 7% to Rs 2,092 after reporting lower-than-expected 20% year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in net profit at Rs 604 crore for the quarter ended March 2012, due to higher raw material cost.  Analysts had expected a net profit of Rs 626 crore from the world's largest two-wheeler vehicle manufacturer. Total income grew 12% at Rs 6,140 crore on y-o-y basis.

ICICI Bank, DLF, State Bank of India, Tata Steel, Coal India, NTPC, Jindal Steel, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, Tata Power, Larsen & Toubro, Gail India and Hindalco are also among the prominent laggards.

On the other hand, Hindustan Unilever, Wipro, Infosys, HDFC Bank, BHEL, TCS and Sun Pharma are among the notable gainers.

Auto, realty and banking stocks are amongst the worst hit in trades so far. The BSE Auto index is the top sectoral loser, down 2% or 216 points to 10,247 levels. Realty index has shed 1.6% or 28 points at 1,665 levels and the BSE banking index- Bankex is also down 1.5% at 11,677 levels. Metal, PSU, power, capitals goods, oil & gas, FMCG and consumer durable stocks are also facing a mild selling pressure. However, technology stocks are witnessing some bit of buying.

Shares of sugar manufacturing companies are trading higher after the government removed the cap on sugar exports and placed the commodity under the open general licence category.

Shree Renuka Sugars, Bajaj Hindustan, Balrampur Chini Mills, Triveni Engineering and Industries and EID Parry are trading higher by 3-12% on back of huge volumes.

The broader markets are in line with the benchmark indices. The BSE mid-cap index has lost 1% or 60 points to 6,238 and the small-cap index has shed 58 points at 6,720 levels.

The overall breadth is negative as 1,602 stocks are declining while 844 are advancing.