Sensex down 40 points

After a positive opening, the markets soon shrugged of its gains and remained weak in morning trades as heavyweights came under the grip of selling pressure.

The Sensex has currently declined 40 points to 7,111 and the Nifty was down 9 points to 2,191.

Profit booking in index heavyweights like ITC, Infosys and most of the Reliance group stocks contributed to the fall in the index.

ITC dipped by 40 points to Rs 1,596, 2.50% lower than its previous close. HLL however bucked the trend and climbed 2% to Rs 165.

Most of the IT stovks in the counter are in red. Infosys moved a per cent lower to Rs 2,310. Satyam and Wipro have shed 2% and are currently trading at Rs 488 and Rs 742. There were media reports that Vivek Paul, vice-chairman of Wipro may quit the company.

RIL declined by a per cent to Rs 642. Although IPCL shaved most of its gains managed to stay in the positive territory up 0.8% at Rs 178.

Reliance Capital dropped 1.6% to Rs 359.25. The stock came sharply of the days's high of Rs 382. A staggering 61 lakh shares changed hands in the counter on BSE today.