Markets near day's low, Sensex down 170 points

Markets continued to trade in the negative territory in noon deals owing to selling pressure in most sectors. The Sensex registered a fresh intra-day low of 16,323, down 174 points, and the S&P CNX Nifty was at 4,908, lower by 41 points.

Earlier in the day, markets opened on a weak note owing to global pressures and downgrade of Japan's credit rating by Moody's

According to A K Prabhakar Senior VP (Equity Research), Anand Rathi, "Nifty holding above 4,900 is important for any rally. But the correction can be a bit deep if today's high of 4,965 is not crossed."

Meanwhile, the European markets opened on a positive note. CAC 40 index opened at 3,111, up nearly 1%, FTSE opened at 5,154, up half a per cent and the DAX opened at 5,584, up 1%.

Back home, Tata Power was the top loser among the Sensex stocks, down nearly 4% to Rs 1,044. Jindal Steel, Coal India, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Steel, Hero MotoCorp, Wipro, SBI and TCS were also trading lower by 1-2.5% each.

On the other hand, Hindalco, DLF, HUL, Sterlite Industries, Larsen & Toubro and HDFC were among the notable gainers on the Sensex.

Most of the sectoral indices reeled under the selling pressure. Technology stocks were among the worst hit. The BSE IT index was down nearly 1% or 42 points at 4,853. Auto index slipped 70 points to 8,241. Metal, Power, PSU, Oil & Gas, Bankex and Healthcare indices were also among the laggards on the sectoral charts. However, Consumer Durables, Realty and FMCG indices held on to marginal gains.

TCS led the losers charts from the IT space, down 1.6% to Rs 964. Wipro, HCL Technologies and Infosys also shed over 1% each. Among the auto stocks Hero MotoCorp was the top loser. It was followed by Maruti Suzuki, Bharat Forge, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Cummins India.

The broader markets outperformed the benchmark indices. The BSE mid-cap index advanced 12 points to 6,275 and the small-cap index added 25 points at 7,220.

The overall breadth was positive as 1,431 stocks advanced while 1,115 stocks declined.