Markets remain weak, metal stocks plunge

Breadth negative as 1580 stocks are declining while 659 are advancing

Markets continue to trade on a weak note in the late morning deals. The Sensex is down 85 points at 18,833 and the 50-share Nifty is down 32 points at 5,688. The markets opened on a weak note tracking subdued global cues and the Sensex touched an intra-day low of 18,760 and the Nifty touched the low of 5,663.

According to Navneet Daga Derivative Analyst, KR Choksey Securities, "Markets are likely to stay flat and would trade in a range of 5,675-5,730. Breakouts could be till 5,650/ 5,750."

Meanwhile, the Asian markets are trading on a weak note as sentiment is hurt by a patchy global growth outlook and weak data from Europe.

Hang Seng is down 354 points at 22,527, Shanghai Composite has slipped 2.7% or 65 points to 2,294, Straits Times is down 21 points at 3,248 and the Taiwan Weighted has slipped 100 points at 7,864.

Back home, metal stocks are amongst the worst hit in trades so far. The BSE metal index has shed 2% or 178 points at 8,947. Jindal Steel, Sterlite Industries, Hindalco, Coal India and Tata Steel from this space are the top losers on the Sensex down 1-3% each.

Consumer durables, capital goods, FMCG, power, realty, PSU and auto indices are also down 1-1.6% each. While, Bankex and IT indices are trading flat with a positive bias.

From the Sensex space, Bajaj Auto, ITC, Larsen & Toubro, HUL, Gail India, Maruti Suzuki, Hero MotoCorp, Cipla, Mahindra & Mahindra, NTPC, HDFC and ONGC are also trading on a weak note. On the other hand, Dr Reddy's Labs, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma, TCS, Reliance Industries, SGI and Tata Power are among the notable gainers.

The broader markets are under performing the benchmark indices. The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices are down 1 and 1.4% each respectively.

The overall breadth is negative as 1,580 stocks are declining while 659 are advancing.