The National Stock Exchange's 50-share Nifty index fell below key 5,900 support levels in late afternoon trades on Thursday as investors rolled over their portfolios for the fresh January series coupled with looming uncertainty over a US 'fiscal-cliff' resolution.
At 2PM, the Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensex index fell 11.53 points and traded at 19,407.32 while the National Stock Exchange's Nifty-50 index declined 8.45 points at 5,897.25.
Asian shares ended mixed ahead of US 'fiscal-cliff' talks amid growth optimism after Japanese premier pledged to take reform measures to support growth in world's third-biggest economy.
China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.6% to 2,205, Singapore's Straits Times rose 0.23% to 3,188, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.35% to 22,620 while Japan's Nikkei gained 1% to 10,321.
MSCI Asia Pacific index outside Japan rose 0.38% to 894.98.
European shares also opened on a flat note. France's CAC gained 0.4% to 3,666.90, Germany's DAX rose 0.18% to 7,650 while UK's FTSE traded down 0.07% to 5,949.76.
On the domestic front, autos, pharmaceuticals, metal, banks indexes lead the gain while IT, consumer durables, FMCG, capital goods declined on BSE.
Among key Sensex stocks, BHEL fell 1.4%, Coal India fell 0.5%, Reliance Industries declined 0.4%. In auto space, Bajaj Auto was down 0.33%, Mahindra & Mahindra and Hero MotoCorp fell 1% and 0.17% while ICICI and HDFC Bank declined 0.3% each on BSE.
On the other hand, Dr Reddy's gained 1.3%, Tata Power rose 0.23% while among autos, Maruti Suzuki rose 0.5% and Tata Motors gained 2% on BSE.
The other key notable movers include, Aurobindo Pharma gained after the company said it has received final approvals from USFDA to manufacture and market Nafcillin Injections in the United States.
Clariant Chemicals (India) has moved higher by 2.4% to Rs 637 after the company said that SK Capital has agreed to purchase textile chemicals, paper specialties and emulsions businesses for an undisclosed amount.
Manaksia has soared 11% to Rs 51 on the NSE, ahead of the board of directors meeting today to consider restructuring plans of the company.
Hotel Leelaventure has surged over 3% to Rs 30.20 on back of heavy volumes on reports that Reliance Industries (RIL) will buy the company’s business park in Chennai for Rs 172 crore.
The BSE mid-cap and small-cap declined nearly 0.1-0.4%.
The overall market breadth is weak as 1,504 stocks declined while 1,170 stocks advanced on the BSE.
