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At 1:40PM, the 30-share Sensex was down 123 points at 25,574 and the 50-share Nifty was down 38 points at 7,745.
BHEL, M&M, HDFC, Axis Bank and SBI were among the top Sensex losers.
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(Updated at 1PM
Markets have turned marginally positive amid choppy trades on the back of renewed buying seen among information technology and FMCG shares. Index heavyweights such as Reliance Inds, and ITC are also pulling the markets in the positive terrain.
By 1PM, the Sensex was higher by 20 points at 25,713 and the Nifty has gained 10 points at 7,796.
The top gainers on the Sensex are Tata Steel, TCS, Infosys, ITC and Reliance Industries, up between 1.6-3.4% each. The biggest losers on the Sensex are NTPC, BHEL, M&M, SBI and Axis Bank , down between 1.5-2.4% each.
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(updated at 11:25 AM)
Markets came off their day's highs and were trading lower as gains in index heavyweights failed to offset by losses in bank shares. Earlier, markets opened higher after the government accepted the recommendation of the Shah Panel report stating that Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) should not be imposed on overseas portfolio investors retrospectively.
By 11:25AM, the Sensex was down 33 points at 25,664 and the Nifty was down 7 points at 7,779.
The broader markets are, however, outperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices have gained almost 1%.
The Indian rupee pared early gains and was trading lower at 66.27 compared to the previous close of 66.32.
Further, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) remained net sellers in domestic equities worth Rs 675.32 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.
GLOBAL MARKETS
Asian stocks weakened for the third straight day on Wednesday amid worries over weak economic data from China while the prospects of a rate hike by the US Federal Reserve also weighed on investor sentiment. Stocks in China slipped further despite several brokerages intending to increase their stock investments to support the market. Nikkei was down 0.7% while Shanghai Composite eased 1.1% and Hang Seng slipped 0.6%.
SECTORS & STOCKS
BSE Bankex and Power indices were among the top losers while IT and FMCG indices were the top gainers.
Among the index heavyweights ITC, Infosys and Reliance Industries were up 1-2% each.
Bank shares witnessed profit taking after weak economic data raised fears on credit growth slowdown. ICICI Bank, SBI, Axis Bank and HDFC Bank were down 0.6-2.7% each.
Sun Pharma was trading flat. The pharma major acquired GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK's) opiates business in Australia, strengthening its active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and analgesic drug segments.
Hero MotoCorp was down 2% after two-wheeler maker reported 13.97% year-on-year decline in sales at 480,537 units in August.
Shares of DLF were trading higher by 3% after real estate developer establish joint venture (JV) with GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund to develop two projects in Central Delhi.
Among other shares, Info Edge (India) were trading higher by 3% at Rs 769 on the BSE after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved hike in investment limit by overseas investors.
