Markets extend losses in noon deals

Bharti Airtel top loser among the Sensex stocks

Markets have extended losses in the noon deals on the back of selling pressure visible across the board. The Sensex is down 154 points at 19,300 and the 50-share Nifty has slipped 52 points to 5,864 levels.

Asian markets are also trading on a weak note on concerns that the 'fiscal cliff' in the US has received a setback from Republican lawmakers after they cancelled a vote extending tax cuts to incomes below $1 million.

Among the major share indices in the region, Hang Seng and the Nikkei were down nearly 0.9% each while Shanghai Composite and Straits Times were both down 0.4% each.

Back home, most of the Sensex stocks are facing the heat of the selling pressure. Bharti Airtel is the top loser among the Sensex stocks, down nearly 3% at Rs 308. Tata Motors, BHEL, Hindalco, index heavyweight Reliance Industries, Coal India, Tata Power, Jindal Steel, ONGC, Sun Pharma, Mahindra & Mahindra, HDFC Bank and Dr Reddys Labs are also trading on a weak note, down 1-2.5% each. On the other hand, TCS, HUL, Infosys and Cipla are among the notable gainers.

All the sectoral indices barring the BSE IT index are trading on a weak note. The BSE realty index is the top loser, the index is doqwn 2.3% or 50 points at 2,073. Oil & gas, auto, consumer durables, power, PSU, metal, healthcare and capital goods indices are also trading weaker by around 1% each.

Among the individual stocks, Indo Tech Transformers was locked in lower circuit of 5% at Rs 161 on the NSE after the company fixed an indicative price of Rs 120 per share for delisting of equity shares from both the stock exchanges. The indicative price is much less than Thursday’s closing price of Rs 168 on the BSE.

Gulf Oil Corporation (GOCL) has moved higher by 5% to Rs 83.90 after the company said that it has completed acquisition of Houghton International Inc. for $1.045 billion.

The broader markets are in-line with the benchmark indices. The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices are down 1% each.

The overall breadth is negative as 1,696 stocks are declining while 904 are advancing.