)
Markets have extended losses in the noon shares on heavy selling by the fund and retail investors. Decline in crude prices and geopolitical concerns have dampened the sentiments of the market participants.
At 2.20 PM, the 30-share Sensex is down 138 points at 27,464 and the 50-share Nifty has shed 38 points to trade at 8,255.
GAIL, Tata Steel, BHEL, ONGC, TCS and Sesa Sterlite are the top 5 losers on the Sensex and are down between 2-6%.
__________________________________________________________
(updated at 1PM)__________________________________________________________
Benchmark indices are trading weak in the noon trades as investors remain cautious ahead of the CPI and IIP numbers due later during the day. Losses in oil shares have contributed the most to the decline on the 30-share Sensex.
At 1 PM, the 30-share Sensex is down 47 points at 27,555 and the 50-share Nifty has shed 12 points to trade at 8,281.
In the broader market, both BSE midcap and smallcap indices are trading flat with a positive bias. Market breadth on BSE is negative with 1,194 advances against 1,409 declines.
The rupee is at 62.43, after falling as much as 62.45, matching the session low hit on February, 20.
Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors were net sellers in Indian equities worth Rs 808.27 crore on Thursday, as per provisional stock exchange data.
Key Stocks:
On the sectoral front, BSE Oil & Gas and Realty indices are down over 1% each. BSE Power, Capital Goods and Consumer Durables are down nearly 0.5% each. However, BSE Healthcare index is up nearly 1%.
Depreciating rupee has helped the technology pack to gain in today’s trade.Infosys is up 0.5%. Wipro is trading with marginal gains. However, TCS has lost 1.5% on plans of workforce reduction. At the end of the quarter ended September 30, TCS had a total headcount of 313,757 following a gross employee addition of 20,000.
Banking shares are reeling under pressure. Axis Bank and ICICI Bank have lost 0.4% and 0.1% each while HDFC Bank is marginally down by 0.1%. SBI is down 0.4%.
Sun Pharma has gained around 1.6%. According to media reports, the company has started working on Competition Commission of India (CCI)'s order which had placed the condition of selling seven brands from the combined entity's portfolio within six months before the sun Pharma and Ranbaxy merger takes place. Cipla is trading with marginal gains.
Bharti Airtel has gained over 1%. According to media reports, the the government is likely to include one slot for 3G services in the upcoming spectrum auction.
Auto shares are trading mixed. Maruti Suzuki has gained over 1%. Armed with nearly half a dozen products to be launched over the next 18 months, India's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki is looking at a volumes growth of 16% and 18%, respectively, in the next two financial years, say analysts. Hero Motocorp is up 0.7%, while M&M is down by 1.6%.
Continued slide in global crude prices has brought pressure on oil and gas shares. GAIL has slumped around 4% while ONGC has lost close to 2%. RIL has slipped 0.4%.
Metal stocks are witnessing selling in today’s trade. Sesa Sterlite and Tata Steel are down 2% and 1.5% each. Hindalco has shed 0.6%. A Special Court today reserved for December 16 its order on the CBI's closure report in the Hindalco coal blocks allocation scam case.
Global Markets:
Japanese markets have gained on fall in yen and rebound in US markets. Nikkei has gained more than 0.5%. Chinese stocks have gained ahead of the release of retail sales data as any weakness in the figures is likely to bring about a stimulus dose by Chinese authorities. Shanghai Composite is up 0.5%. However Hang Seng index is down 0.4%.
