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Benchmark indices finished lower for the second straight session with IT and healthcare stocks contributing the most to the decline on the back of lacklustre US economic data for the month of March.
Meanwhile, Hero Motocorp emerged as the top loser after US-based Erik Buell Racing (EBR), in which Hero MotoCorp holds 49% stake, announced a closure of operations.
Provisionally, 30-share Sensex shed 167 points to close at 28,633 and the 50-share Nifty dropped 55 points to end at 8,695.
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(updated at 3.30 PM)Markets have trimmed losses with Nifty reclaiming 8,700 mark owing to fresh buying in financials coupled with strength in oil and gas majors as global crude oil futures continue their upward trajectory.
At 2.55 PM, the 30-share Sensex has shed 170 points at 28,629 and the 50-share Nifty has dropped 58 points at 8,691.
ONGC, Bharti Airtel, M&M, HFDC, Hindalco are the top 5 gainers on the Sensex.
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(updated at 2.55PM)Benchmark indices continue to trade lower for the second straight session with IT stocks contributing the most to the decline on the back of lacklustre US economic data for the month of March coupled with weakness in Hero MotoCorp after US-based Erik Buell Racing (EBR), in which Hero MotoCorp holds 49% stake, announced a closure of operations.
At 2.10 PM, the 30-share Sensex has shed 224 points at 28,575 and the 50-share Nifty has dropped 75 points at 8,675.
RUPEE
The rupee slipped by 2 paise at 62.38 against the US dollar in the late noon trade following bouts of demand for dollar from importers amid volatile equities.
KEY STOCKS
On the sectoral front, BSE Healthcare, Realty, IT, Capital Goods are down up to 2%. However, BSE Oil & Gas index emerged as the only gainer and is up nearly 1%.
ONGC has emerged as the top gainer and is up by 2%. According to media reports, government has decided to exempt ONGC and Oil India from sharing subsidy in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015. GAIL is trading 0.5% higher.
Auto stocks which gained in the morning deals after public sector oil marketing companies announced a reduction in retail selling price of petrol and diesel have slipped in the negative territory on profit booking. Hero Motocorp, Bajaj Auto, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors are trading lower up to 3.6%.
Bank stocks have declined across the exchange. ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, SBI, Axis Bank have dipped between 0.3-1%.
Tata Steel has dropped nearly 1%o after the company said that its crude steel production fell 1.45% to 2.44 million tonnes in Q4 March 2015 over Q4 March 2014. Its peer Sesa Sterlite is trading lower by 3%.
Pharma stocks are witnessing profit-booking in today’s trade. Lupin has lost over 3% after its rival Aurobindo Pharma got a nod from US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to make and sell its generic version of oral suspension of antibiotic Cefixime.
Cipla, Sun Pharma and Dr Reddy's Labs are also trading 1.5-3% lower.
The IT stocks have declined on the back lacklustre US economic data. Also, the stocks are facing pressure on caution ahead of TCS's results which will be announced post the market hours today. Infosys, Wipro, TCS are trading lower up to 2%.
FMCG majors ITC and HUL have lost 1.5% each on Nomura report stating that the possibility that the El Nino condition is developing this year and this could possibly push food inflation temporarily higher.
After gaining in the past sessions, both the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices, down 0.9% each have succumbed to profit booking at higher levels. Market breadth on the BSE is weak with 1,772 declines against 892 advances.
