The markets have staged a partial recovery in the late-noon session aided by a rebound in index heavyweights such as NTPC, Hindustan Unilever and ITC.
At 2.15pm, the Sensex was at 27607, weaker by 204 points and the Nifty was at 8307, down 71 points.
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(Updated at 1.30pm)
The markets remain in a state of stagnation this afternoon as the possible exit of Greece from the European Union continued to rile the market participants.
At 1.25 pm, the Sensex was at 27,397, weaker by 409 points or 1.5% and the Nifty was at 8,250, down 131 points.
The broader markets were doing worse, with the midcap and smallcap indices shedding more than 2% each at 10,458 and 10,868 respectively.
On the Greece front, the last-ditch talks between Greece and its lenders broke down, prompting the European Central Bank to cap emergency funding to the country's banks at current levels. Greek banks and the stock exchange are shut on Monday after creditors refused to extend the country’s bailout and savers queued to withdraw cash, taking Athens’ standoff with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund to a dangerous level. Moreover, after the failed talks, Tsipras has called a referendum on the country's bailout program for July 5.
The global markets are facing the heat of the Greece uncertainity. The Asian indices are in a sea of red, with the Nikkei, Hang Seng and Taiwan shedding 2-3% each. Shanghai has cracked 3% as investors remain wary despite a decision by the central bank to cut interest rates to record low. The European markets have also reacted to the unfolding Greece issue, with the CAC, DAX and FTSE cracking 2.3% each in early trades.
On the currency front, the rupee has weakened against the dollar, down 21 paise to 63.85.
Meanwhile, the EU Economics Commissioner Pierre Moscovici told French radio on Monday deal between Greece and its creditors is "only a few centimetres away" and there is still scope for further negotiations.
KEY STOCKS AND SECTORS
All the sectoral indices are trading in the red, with banking, IT and metal stocks ranking among the major losers..All 30 stocks in the Sensex pack are also trading in the negative territory, with Hindalco, SBI, Sun Pharma and Tata Motors being the major individual losers on the BSE.
Metal companies are under pressure, with the National Stock Exchange (NSE) CNX Metal index hitting fresh 52-week lows in intra-day trades. Hindalco Industries, Tata Steel, Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL), Vedanta, GMDC and National Aluminium are trading weaker by 3-4%.
Banking shares are also having a weak session, with SBI, YES Bank, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and ICICI Bank losing around 2% each.
IT companies are also weak; Tech Mahindra, TCS, Wipro, HCL Tech and Infosys are down 2-5% each.
On the other hand, oil marketing companies (OMCs) are bucking the weak trend as oil prices fell in Asia tracking the sell-off in global equity markets on fears of a Greek debt default. Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) are up 1%-2% on the BSE.
The market breadth is weak, with 538 advances versus 1,874 declines on the BSE.
