After a quiet opening the markets have slipped into the red with the Sensex losing 17 points at 18,376 and the Nifty shed eight points at 5,517. Auto and realty stocks are the major draggers in the morning trades. Meanwhile the broader markets continue to remain flat with a positive bias.
Among the sectoral indices, Consumer Durables and Capital Goods continue to lead the gains at 0.4% each while Power and IT indices are flat. Meanwhile, all the rate sensitives have slipped into the negative. Bankex index is down 0.2% while auto and realty lost 0.6% and 0.3% respectively.
Shares of three state-run oil marketing companies fell in the range of 1.4% to 2.5% on BSE on reports that the government has once again deferred a decision on raising prices of diesel, kerosene and cooking gas.The rise in crude oil prices componded the trouble for the OMCs. HPCL was the top loser down 2.5%, Indian Oil Corporation is down 1.5% and BPCL shed 1.40%.
Another scrips which tumbled today are HCL Infosystems which lost 7% and MTNL down 2% on reports that the CBI has registered a case against some executives of these companies for alleged irregularities in awarding a contract during Commonwealth Games.
Of the total 30 scrips on the Sensex, only seven scrips are trading in the positive. The major losers were Tata Motors, Reliance Communication, Maruti Suzuki and SBI losing 1-2%
The market breadth continues to be negative. Of the total 2307 stocks traded on BSE, 1146 stocks declined while 1069 advanced.
