Markets slip after initial gains as selling in heavyweights like Reliance Industries, Tata Motors, L&T and ICICI Bank weighed on the indices. The Sensex was down 130 points at 19,896 and the Nifty shed 43 points at 6,011.
In the broader markets too, profit booking was visible, with both the midcap and the smallcap indices down over 1% each.
Except IT and FMCG which was up 0.9% and 0.4% respectively all teh indices were in the red. Realty index down 4%, Auto, Capital Goods and MEtal indices down 1-3% were the major losers in the morning trades.
TCS, Wipro and Infosys up 0.7-1.5% were the ones helping the IT index to remain in the green.
FMCG heavyweights ITC and Hindustan Unilever gained 0.9% and 0.4% respectively.
The only other gainers among the Sensex stocks were ONGC up 1.4%, Dr Reddys Lab up 0.8% and HDFC Bank up 0.3%.
All the major auto stocks were in the red. Tata Motors tanked 7% after the company said that EBITDA or operating margin for December quarter is likely to be slightly lower than in the previous two quarters.
The other auto majors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj Auto slipped 0.6-2%.
Metal names like Sterlite, Hindalco, Jindal Steel and Tata Steel shed 1-2.5%
The other notable losers were Gail India, L&T, Cipla, Tata Power, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, BHEL and Reliance Industries down 1-4%.
The market breadth was very negative on the BSE. 1631 stocks declined while 505 stocks advanced.
