Markets have extended the losses with the Sensex and the Nifty declining by over 1% each. The losses were led by capital goods and banking shares. At 11:30 hrs, the Sensex was down 202 points at 17,722 and the Nifty declined 69 points at 5,360 levels.
On the global front, US markets ended mixed on Friday, as economic reports mostly offset concern about rising oil costs. Asian markets are trading on a mixed note today. Hang Seng, Taiwan and Shanghai Composite have gained between 0.3-1%. However, Nkkei, Strait Times and Kospi are trading marginally in red zone.
Back home, capital goods major L&T and BHEL have declined by nearly 4% each.
Banking shares like ICICI Bank and SBI have plunged by over 2% each on profit taking after recent gains on hopes of rate cut by the central bank as concerns over rising inflation eased.
HDFC has extended Friday’s losses and is down by nearly 2% after Citigroup Inc which holds around 145 million shares, or a 9.9% stake, in the company sold its entire stake at an average market price of Rs 670 per share via block deals.
From the realty pack, DLF has dropped by over 3%.
Auto shares like Hero MotoCorp, Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Auto, M&M and Tata Motors have slipped between 1-3%.
From the Metal pack, Jindal Steel is the top Sensex loser, down 5%. Hindalco, Tata Steel, Sterlite and Coal India have fallen between 1-4%.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries has extended Friday’s weakness and is down by nearly 1%.
Among individual stocks, Vedanta Resources, the holding company of Sesa Goa and Sterlite Industries, has decided to merge the two companies. Sterlite is down by over 1% after gaining in the early trades. Sesa Goa however, has slumped 7% in trades.
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals is trading lower by 2% after the company's US subsidiary announced a nationwide recall in the US for seven lots of its oral contraceptive Norgestimate and Ethinyl Estradiol tablets due to a packaging error.
The broader indices have extended the losses and are trading dismal with BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices declining by nearly 2% each.
The market breadth in BSE remains unhealthy with 1,721 shares declining and 665 advancing.
