Sensex down 42 pts; ONGC, ICICI Bank log gains

The Sensex, which slipped below the 6,550-mark in early noon trades, has pared some losses on buying in select heavyweights. It is now down 42 points at 6,562 as tech, auto, cement and other select old economy stocks are still trading with steep losses. The Nifty is down 13 points at 2,050.

SBI has dropped 1.64% (Rs 11) to Rs 656, while Reliance is down a per cent (Rs 5) at Rs 560.

Wipro has plunged 2.74% (Rs 19) to Rs 662. While Satyam has dipped 1.34% (Rs 6) to Rs 417, Infosys is subdued with a loss of Rs 8 at Rs 2,222.

Tata Motors has dropped 3.76% (Rs 16) to Rs 408. While Maruti has slumped 3% (Rs 13) to Rs 407, Hero Honda is down 1.14% (Rs 6) at Rs 532. Bajaj, however, has moved up 1.91% (Rs 20) to Rs 1,084 on fresh buying support.

HDFC at Rs 717 (down Rs 9 or 1.21%), HPCL at Rs 316 (down Rs 4 or 1.33%), Reliance Energy at Rs 538 (down Rs 6 or 1.14%), Tata Power at Rs 349 (down Rs 9 or 2.47%) and Tisco at Rs 387 (down Rs 7 or 1.68%) continue to witness weak trends.

Gujarat Ambuja has lost 3.53% (Rs 15) to Rs 410, and Grasim has declined 1.40% (Rs 17) to Rs 1,217.

ONGC, however, is trading firm with a gain of 1.51% (Rs 13) at Rs 907. ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank have rolled back into the green to Rs 423 (up Rs 5 or 1.10%) and Rs 554 (up Rs 2), respectively.