The benchmark indices have been trading in a lacklustre manner this afternoon. The Sensex is quoting at 18,336, down 37 points and Nifty is at 5,501, down 14 points. The midcap index is at 6858, down 36 points and the smallcap index is at 8231, down seven points.
The BSE-Sensex had slipped nearly 100 points mid-way through the session on account of the unenthusing cues from the Asian front. While the Hang Seng and Nikkei are down more than a percent each, the domestic bourses have partially recouped their losses; the bounce has still not been strong enough to push the markets into the green.
Jaiprakash Associates has slid 2.7% at Rs 82 to top the loser's list on the BSE. Auto stocks are having another bad day, with M&M weakeaning by 1.8% at Rs 654, Bajaj Auto shedding 1.4% at Rs 1351 and Maruti losing 1.3% at Rs 1216.
On the other hand, Cipla has strengthened by 1.9% at Rs 330. Financials are also witnessing selective buying interest, with HDFC gaining by 1.2% at Rs 668 and HDFC Bank adding 0.6% at Rs 2365.
The market breadth is weak. Out of 2701 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1099 advancing stocks as against 1482 declines.
