The markets have plunged in noon trades due to weakness in index heavyweight RIL and metal stocks such as Hindalco, Sterlite and Tata Steel. The Sensex has broken the 17k mark and is currently at 16,912, weaker by 252 points and the Nifty is at 5069, down 83 points.
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(Updated at 1256hrs)
Markets continued to trade on a lacklustre note in noon deals on the back of profit-booking in the oil & gas and information technology stocks. The Sensex was at 17,128, down 36 points and the Nifty was at 5,142, lower by 11 points.
Shailesh Kadam AVP, Institutional Derivatives, PINC Research said that the markets are stuck in the range of 5,000-5,200 levels.
Meanwhile, the European markets have also opened on a subdued note adding to the worries in the Indian markets. England's FTSE has opened at 5,347, marginally higher by 0.13%, the CAC 40 index has opened in the red, down 0.3% to 3,076 and the DAX has also opened lower by 0.4% at 5,835.
Back home, Sterlite Industries was the top loser among the Sensex stocks, down 2.3% to Rs 135. Hindalco was down 2.2% at Rs 155. Infosys, Tata Steel, Sun Pharma, Tata Power, Reliance Industries, TCS, DLF and Jindal Steel were also trading in the negative territory.
On the other hand, HUL, Hero MotoCorp, HDFC, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Auto, Mahindra & Mahindra and Coal India were among the gainers on the benchmark index.
On the sectoral front, BSE IT index was the top loser, down 1.3% or 67 points at 4,998. The metal index shed 1% at 132 points to 12,575 levels. Oil & gas, realty, power and capital goods indices also shed 0.2-0.7% each.
At the same time, some buying was visible in the consumer durables and auto stocks. The BSE Consumer Durables index advanced nearly 1% or 59 points to 6,755. Auto index was up 0.4% or 37 points at 8,869. PSU, FMCG, healthcare and Bankex indices were also trading marginally higher.
Infosys was the top loser among the IT stocks, down nearly 2% to Rs 2,295. It was followed by Oracle Financial Services Software, TCS, MphasiS, Patni Computer, Core Projects and Wipro. Among the metal stocks, SAIL, Hindalco, Stwerlite Industries, Tata Steel, Hindustan Zinc, JSW Steel and Sesa Goa were the top losers, down 1-2.6% each.
C. Mahendra Exports was the top gainer among the consumer durable stocks, up 8% to Rs 170. TTK Prestige, Titan Industries and Gitanjali Gems also added 1-3% each.
The broader markets outperformed the benchmark index. The BSE mid-cap index gained 0.5% or 33 points to 6,523 and the small-cap index advanced 48 points to 7,407.
The overall breadth was positive as 1,522 stocks were advancing while 1,063 stocks were declining.
