Markets witness subdued trades

The markets continued to witness subdued trades with the BSE Sensex at 17,019, down 102 points and the Nifty at 5,166, down 29 points.

Earlier in the day, the BSE benchmark index touched the day's high at 17,046 and the day's low at 16,952.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei share average fell 0.8%, slipping further from a one-year high hit earlier this week as investors lock in gains from what is shaping up as its best January-March quarterly performance in 24 years. The index is at 10,093, down 0.88%. The Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng indices have declined 1-2% each.

On the sectoral front, BSE IT, Capital Goods and FMCG indices are leading the losses, down 1% each. BSE Consumer Durables is the top gainers, up marginally.

Infosys, TCS, HCL Technologies, down 1-2% each, are the notable losers from the IT space. India's technology outsourcing companies fell on local media reports the United States had raised the cost of processing H-1B employment visas. The higher costs could hit profit margins at India's $100 billion technology and business process outsourcing industry, which employs 107,000 people in the United States, of which near a third are Americans.

Among individual stocks, Aurobindo Pharma has gained 2% at Rs 116.45 after it received final approval for Quetiapine Fumarate tablets. The company has received the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) nod for Quetiapine Fumarate tablets. The generic equivalent of AstraZeneca LP's Seroquel tabletsare intended for treatment of psychotic disorders such schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.  Aurobindo now has a total of 147 approvals from the USFDA.   

Panacea Biotec has gained 6% at Rs 72 on the launch of its new facility in Himachal Pradesh for the production of anti-cancer products. It plans to scale up production of anti-cancer products with the commissioning of its new facility.

Vaibhav Gems if trading nearly 8% higher at Rs 47 on the National Stock Exchange after its promoters acquired nine million shares for Rs 37.57 crore through an open offer. “The voluntary open offer was made to consolidate the promoter group's holding, the company said in a statement.

The overall market breadth is neutral as 1,124 stocks have declined against 1,119 advancing ones, on the BSE.