)
Markets traded on a lacklustre note this afternoon with the Sensex paring early gains. The BSE benchmark, aftyer touching a high of 18,959 slipped to a low of 18,796. The index is now up 11 points at 18,847. Nifty is up 14 points at 5,696.
Eight core sectors output fell 2.5% in February, against a growth of 3.1% in the previous month and a whopping 7.7% expansion in February, 2012, dashing the hope of policy makers that the industry will revive in the third quarter of the current financial year. The eight core sectors, which have a weight of 38% in the Index of Industrial Production, saw five of them registering a contraction in February year-on-year, showed official data released today.
Meanwhile in Asia, Japan's Nikkei share average fell to a three-week low on Monday as investors took profits in stocks such as exporters and financials that had gained in recent weeks on the back of a weaker yen and prospects of monetary easing. The Nikkei slipped 2% to 12,135. Hang Seng was down over half a per cent as well.
The broader markets are however outperforming the benchmark indices. The BSE mid-cap index has advanced 1% to 6,207 and the small-cap index is up 1.9% at 5,916.
From the sectoral pack, BSE realty index has soared 4% to 1851.Capital goods, healthcare and power sectors have also seen buying interest and are up 1.5% each. On the other hand, metal stocks have lost their sheen as the BSE metal index is down 1.2% at 8,649. Auto index has slipped 0.8% at 9,914.
BHEL is leading the gainers list - up 3% at Rs 183. Dr Reddy's and Cipla from the pharma space, are up over 2% each. Larsen & Toubro, Infosys and HUL are up 1-2% each.
Market heavyweight - Reliance is up 0.4% while SBI, Bharti Airtel and GAIL are also trading flat.
On the other hand, Sterlite is down 5% at Rs 89. Wipro has slipped 2% at Rs 430 as teh company exited the National Stock Exchange's benchmark index Nifty from today.Wipro, along with Siemens, is being replaced by private sector lender IndusInd Bank and state-run mining giant NMDC in the 50-share benchmark index of the National Stock Exchange, as per an exchange circular.
Tata Motors, Jindal Steel, ONGC and TCS are also in red - down 1-2% each.
Mahindra & Mahindra reported an 11% year-on-year growth in auto sales in March 2013. India's top utility vehicle maker said it sold 51,904 units in March 2013 as against 46,919 units during March 2012. The stock was down 0.60% at Rs 855.
BSE market breadth is holding strong. Out of 2696 stocks traded, 1725 shares have advanced while 875 shares have declined in trades.
