Markets trade lower, Sensex down 180pts

Having remained sideways for most part of the trading session, the markets dipped further into the red in late-noon trades. The BSE Sensex is at 16,594, down 182 points and the Nifty is at 4,969, down 61 points.

Earlier in the day, the BSE benchmark index touched a high of 16,807 and a low of 16,657.

Meanwhile, on the economic front, the government released the inflation data for the week ended November 5. The primary article inflation eased to 10.39% versus 11.43% on a weekly basis. Food article inflation came in at 10.63% versus 11.81% and the fuel group inflation was at 15.49% compared to 14.5%. With food inflation easing by over a percentage point, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said if the trend continues, "some relief" can be expected on the price front.

Among the sectoral indices, BSE Oil & Gas, Power and PSU indices, down 1-2% each, were leading the losses.  Reliance Industries, Essar Oil, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, down 2-4% each, were the major gainers from the Oil & Gas space.

BSE Bankex was the only one in the green, up marginally. IndusInd, SBI and Yes Bank, up 1% each, were the prominent gainers among the financials.

Hindalco Industries moved up nearly 3% at Rs 127. Cipla, Hero MotoCorp, SBI and Sun Phrama Industries, up 1-2% each, were the other prominent gainers among the Sensex 30 stocks.

JP Associates shed 4% at Rs 65 and was the top loser on the Sensex.

Maruti Suzuki was trading lower by 4% at Rs 952, extending its 12% fall in past five trading days. The stock has been underperforming the market since announcement of September quarter (Q2) results on November 26, by falling 16% as compared to 6% fall in auto index and 3% fall in the benchmark index Sensex. The company reported below expected results for 2QFY12. While sales were down by 16% YoY, net profit dropped by 60% YoY, due to weak petrol car demand, labour issues and strong yen against the Indian rupee.

Reliance Industries and BHEL, down 3% each, were the other losers on the Sensex. Coal India has dipped 3% to Rs 304, its lowest since February 2011, extending the 4% decline post September quarter results. The state-owned company had reported a net profit of Rs 2,593 crore for the second quarter ended September 2011 (Q2), compared to Rs 4,143 crore in Q1.

Among individual stocks, Patni Computer Systems has rallied 10% to Rs 426 after its promoter - iGate said it plans to delist shares of its Indian unit to obtain full ownership of the company. iGate holds around 80.4% stake in the company.

The overall market breadth was negative as 1,759 stocks have declined against 953 advancing ones, on the BSE.