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Benchmark indices have extended losses and are trading nearly 1% lower dragged primarily by the losses in information technology, pharmaceutical and capital goods stocks as investors remain cautious ahead of the key corporate earnings reports.
At 12:40PM, the 30-share Sensex was down 235 points at 28,564 and the 50-share Nifty was down 83 points at 8,666.
In the broader market, both the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices, down 0.9% each have underperformed the front-liners. Market breadth in BSE is negative with 1,643 declines against 873 advances.
Commenting on today's session, Deven Choksey, MD & CEO, KR Choksey Shares & Securities said, "Investors are cautious and booking profits ahead of the fourth quarter earnings with TCS scheduled to announce its numbers later today."
Buzzing Stocks
All but one out of the 12 sectoral indices of BSE is in green. BSE Realty index down 1.9% is the top loser followed by BSE IT and Healthcare indices down nearly 1.6% and 1.4% each.
ONGC has emerged as the top gainer during noon trades and is up by 2.5%. According to media reports, government has decided to exempt ONGC and Oil India from sharing subsidy in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015. GAIL is trading 0.6% higher while RIL is down 0.2%.
Tata Motors has gained 0.7% after the company reported a growth rate of 9% in global sales, including Jaguar Land Rover's, at 1,03,952 units in March 2015.
Hero MotoCorp was down around 2% after US-based Erik Buell Racing (EBR), in which Hero MotoCorp holds 49% stake, has announced a closure of operations.
IT shares have led the decline in today’s session ahead of the fourth quarter results of TCS due later today. Infosys and Wipro have lost over 2% each while TCS is down 1.4%.
Pharma shares remain subdued. Sun Pharma, Dr Reddys Lab and Cipla have shed between 1% -2% each. Sun Pharma has announced collaboration with Technion–Israel institute of technology to develop novel anti-cancer drugs.
