The markets are marginally negative in noon trades due to selling pressure in auto and power stocks. The BSE Sensex is at 17,953, down 13 points and the S&P CNX Nifty is at 5,408, down three points.
The bourses had begun the trading session in the positive; the BSE Sensex had touched a high of 18,033, before surrendering all its gains to hit a low of 17,893 in late morning trades.
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals gained on announcing that its subsidiary Glenmark Generics Inc has received final approval from the US health regulator for Verapamil tablets, which are used for treating hypertension.
All three state-owned oil marketing companies, Hindustan Petroleum, Bharat Petroleum and Indian Oil, are trading higher by over 2% each in an otherwise weak market on hopes of getting compensation for selling fuels below cost ahead of their first quarter financial results.
The top gainer among the Sensex 30 stocks is Reliance Infra at Rs 574, up 2%, followed by Reliance Communication, Hero Motocorp, HDFC and TCS. On the other hand, Mahindra & Mahindra has slipped 2% at Rs 694. Other prominent losers include NTPC, Hindalco Industries, ITC and Bajaj Auto.
Among the sectoral indices, BSE Auto and BSE Power are the major laggards, slipping 0.64% and 0.32%, respectively. Bharat Forge, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto and Amtek Auto are the top losers in the auto pack.
BSE PSU and Consumer Durables are the top gainers, up 1% each.
The broader markets are comparatively firm with the BSE mid-cap index at 6,822, up 0.54% while the small-cap index at 8,164, up 0.68%.
The overall market breadth is positive with 1522 stocks advancing and 1014 declining on the BSE.
