 "Markets extend losses, Nifty breaks 8,200; European markets weak")
At 14:10 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 280 points lower at 26,740 and the Nifty50 slipped 75 points at 8,198.
In overseas markets, European shares fell in early trade dropping for a second straight day, with a fall in Vodafone weighing on the telecom sector and Essentra hit by a profit warning. Asian stocks declined as investors weigh risks amid the Federal Reserve's cautious stance about tightening rates.
Back home, Infosys, Hero MotoCorp, ITC, Dr Reddy’s Labs, HUL and HDFC have slumped between 2%-4%. Among gainers, ONGC, Reliance Industries, Cipla, NTPC and Tata Steel have gained between 1%-3%.
Shares of electric utilities companies such as Tata Power Company (Rs 77), NTPC (Rs 152) and Power Grid Corporation of India (Rs 154) have hit their respective 52-week highs on the BSE in intra-day trade in an otherwise weak market.
Shares of Granules India were up over 2% at Rs 143 on the Bombay Stock Exchange after the company's wholly-owned US subsidiary Granules Pharmaceuticals, Inc., entered into an exclusive agreement with USpharma Windlas, LLC for product in-licensing.
Alphageo (India) moved higher to its fresh 52-week high of Rs 861, extending its past four days rally on the BSE.
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Updated at 1 PM
Markets continued to trade lower in noon deals, amid weak European cues, even as energy shares outperformed tracking gains in global crude oil prices.
At 12:50pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 216 points lower at 26,804 and the Nifty50 slipped 57 points at 8,216. In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were up 0.1%-0.4% each. Market breadth was strong with 1256 gainers and 1029 losers on the BSE.
In global commodities markets, crude oil prices firmed up buoyed by a fall in US crude inventories, a weaker dollar and strong demand.
Foreign portfolio investors were net buyers in equities worth a net Rs 529 crore on Wednesday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.
European shares opened lower with major indices such as CAC-40, DAX and FTSE-100 down 0.5%-0.8% each.
STOCKS
Energy shares were among the top gainers tracking firm global crude oil prices. Reliance Industries and ONGC were up 2% each.
Bank shares were also among the top gainers with ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and SBI up 0.4%-0.8% each.
FMCG majors ITC and Hindustan Unilever which had gained in the previous sessions on expectations that normal monsoon would boost rural volumes witnessed profit taking. Hindustan Unilever and ITC were down 2% each.
Infosys is down nearly 4% amid concerns that compensation increase and higher visa fees could impact margins in the first quarter of the current fiscal. Further, Chief Operating Officer, UB Pravin Rao at an investor conference said that growth could remain volatile in the near term and sounded caution on the outlook for the retail sector among other verticals. The stock has also turned ex-dividend today for final dividend of Rs 14.25 per share for the year ended 31 March 2016 (FY 2016).
Lupin has pared early gains and is trading with marginal gains. Lupin is recalling over 54,000 vials of anti-bacterial injection, Ceftriaxone, due to violation of current manufacturing norms. Among others, Sun Pharma and Cipla were up 0.7%-1.2% each.
Dr Reddy's Labs was down 2% on talk that US Consumer Product Safety COmmission is seeking civil penalty stating that the company has violated provisions related to child resistant packaging in at least five prescription drugs.
Tata Motors witnessed profit taking after recent gains post the annoucement of global wholesales including Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) which rose 10% to 87,414 units in May 2016 over May 2015.
Wipro was up with marginal gains after it announced a partnership with Mountain View based Authentise Inc, a leading provider of 3D printing technologies and consulting services.
