Markets subdued in late morning trades

HSBC PMI slips marginally

The markets continue to languish in the red on account of economic growth concerns amid a weakening rupee on the domestic front. The Sensex was down 43 points at 16,175 and the Nifty remained stable around 4,900. Earlier, in the morning trades the Sensex saw a low of 16,147.

In the broader markets, the midcap index remained flat with a negative bias while the smallcap index gained 0.3% outperforming the benchmark index which was down 0.2%

Highlighting the situation of the Indian economy, the HSBC manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, slipped marginally to 54.8 in May from 54.9 in April. While the survey indicated growth in India's dominant manufacturing sector remains moderate, there are still question marks about the underlying weakness in the wider economy.

In Asia, Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng up 0.2-0.3% were the only markets to trade in the green. The ones leading the losses were Nikkei, Taiwan Weighted, Straits down 0.5-2%

Back home, among the sectortal indices, IT, Oil & Gas, Capital Goods, Power and Healthcare down 0.5-1% were the top losers. Meanwhile, FMCG, Bankex and Realty have seen some buying and was up 0.2-0.6%

Wipro, TCS and Infosys down 1% each were ones weighing down the IT index.

Amongst the Sensex stocks, Hindalco, ICICI Bank, ITC and SBI up 1% each were the top gainers.

On the losing side were Jindal Steel, Bajaj Auto, Gail India, NTPC, ONGC and L&T down 1-2%.

Also, aviation scrips like Jet Airways, SpiceJet and Kingfisher Airlines rallied between 2-9% after the state-owned oil companies cut jet fuel price by 2%, which constitutes over 40% of an airline's operating cost. The reduction in prices will ease the burden of the cash-strapped airlines.

Among other stocks, Shriram EPC surged 11% to Rs 63.15 after its board approved a fund raising plans up to Rs 150 crore through issue of equity shares in the form of QIPs/ADRs/GDRs/FCCBs/ and/ or any other securities convertible into equity shares and/or Rights Issue or any combination thereof.

Meanwhile, the market breadth was positive owing to the strength in the broader markets. 1119 stocks advanced while 1016 stocks declined.