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Markets continue to trade in the negative with the Sensex down 40 points at 19,129 and the Nifty lost 16 points to trade at 5,817 as L&T, ITC, Tata Motors and banks weighed on the indices.
however, broader markets was active with the smallcap index gaining over 0.6% and the midcap index added 0.2%, both outperforming the BSE benchmark index which was down 0.2%.
Among individual stocks, Elantas Beck India tanked almost 18% or Rs 109 to Rs 514, also its 52-week low, after the stock turned ex-dividend today.
Transformers and Rectifiers (India) surged 11% to Rs 106 after the company said it has received transformers order worth of Rs 296 crore from Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation Limited (GETCO)
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(Updated at 0944 hrs)
Markets slipped into the negative after opening flat with a positive bias as weakness in financials,ITC and L&T weighed on the indices. At 0940 hrs, the Sensex was down 62 points at 19,108 and the Nifty slipped 23 points at 5,811.
Meanwhile, the mid and smallcap indices were up 0.1-0.3%.
In Asia, shares and other riskier assets lost ground on Tuesday after a preliminary reading showed manufacturing growth in China slowed in April, highlighting recent market concerns about global growth prospects.
The flash HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index for April fell to 50.5 in April from 51.6 in March, but was still stronger than February's reading of 50.4.
The HSBC report was China's first economic indicator for the second quarter and followed weaker-than-expected growth in first-quarter gross domestic product reported earlier this month, which triggered a sharp market sell-off last week.
New export orders contracted, pointing to fragile global demand.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.3% from around a neutral level before the Chinese data was released.
Chinese shares deepened losses, with Hong Kong slipping 0.8% and Shanghai falling 1.4%.
Japan's Nikkei stock average slipped 0.1% after surging as much as 2.2% to nearly five-year highs on Monday.
Back home, among sectoral indices, IT, Metal and Health Care started in the green, up 0.2-1% while Power and consumer Durables were flat with a positive bias.
On the other hand, Bankex, Auto, Capital Goods, FMCG, Oil & Gas, Realty and PSU indices started off in the negative, losing 0.1-0.9%.
The major losers among the Sensex-30 were L&T, HDFC Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, Tata Power, ITC, Maruti Suzuki, SBI and Hindustan Unilever down 0.4-1.3% along with Reliance Industries losing 0.3%.
Beaten down IT names witnessed some value buying as all the major names like TCS, Infosys and Wipro advanced in the range of 1-2%.
Metal names were shining in opening deals as Tata Steel, Hindalco, Sterlite and Jindal Steel gained 0.7-1.2%.
Coal India, Dr Reddys Lab, Sun Pharma, BHEL, Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp and ONGC were the other gainers, up 0.1-1.3%.
The market breadth was positive due to strength in broader markets. 539 stocks advanced while 392 stocks declined on the BSE.
