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Markets continued to trade lower dragged down by ICICI bank, ITC, Infosys among other heavyweights. Among sectors, banking stocks remained under heavy selling pressure with BSE Bankex index shedding 1.3% today. After opening lower, key benchmarks stock indices traded in narrow range while broader markets edged higher.
At 2:30pm, the 30-share BSE Sensex shed 0.4% or 101.03 points 20,621.94 while the 50-unit NSE Nifty was down 0.5% or 33 points at 6,119.40
Weakness in the global markets weighed on the investor sentiment after Fed minutes released late Wednesday signalled continuation of trimming its bond buying program at the usual pace of $10bn-a-month unless economy surprises significantly. Also, macro-economic data from China also signaled a slowdown in the world's second-largest economy for second month in a row. The flash Markit/HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to a seven-month low of 48.3 in February from January's final reading of 49.5. A reading below 50 indicates a contraction while one above shows expansion
Sentiment in the broader markets turned negative in noon deals with the midcap index up 0.18% and the smallcap index down 0.46%.
Among the sectoral indices, banking index down 1.5% was the top loser followed by Oil & Gas, Metal, Auto, FMCG, Teck and IT indices losing 0.1-0.6%.
Among the ones in the green were Realty and Power indices up 0.7% each along with Consumer Durables, and Health Care which gained 0.5% and 0.3% respectively.
Bajaj Auto and Dr Reddys Lab up 1.5% each were the top gainers among Sensex-30 in noon trades.
Tata Power, BHEL, TCS, NTPC and Sun Pharma up 0.2-0.9% rounded off the gainers list.
From the financial space, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, SBI, Axis Bank and HDFC have plunged between 0.7-2%.
Shares of metal companies are trading lower by up to 2% in early morning deals after China’s PMI data for the month of February fell to a seven-month low.
Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Hindalco Industries, Steel Authority of India, Jindal Steel and Power and Sesa Sterlite are down 1-1.6%.
Other notable losers are Infosys, ONGC, Bharti Airtel and M&M which slumped between 0.6-0.8%.
The market breadth was very negative on the BSE. 1,292 stocks declined while 1,059 stocks advanced.
On the global front, asian stocks tumbled on Thursday and the yen firmed as a survey painted a grim picture of China's manufacturing sector, heightening uncertainty about the outlook for the region's economic powerhouse.
Asian equities were already on the back foot, tracking U.S. losses after minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting and a chorus of U.S. central bank officials showed it remained on track to taper its stimulus.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan extended its drop after the China survey, losing 1 percent. Japan's Nikkei stock average ended down 2.2 percent, marking its biggest daily percentage drop in two weeks.
The preliminary China Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) from HSBC/Markit for February fell to a seven-month low of 48.3 in Feb
