Sensex down nearly 100 points; Tata Motors dips 1.5%

Markets continued to trade weak in noon trades amid profit taking in pharma and auto shares

Markets contined to trade weak in noon trades on Thursday weighed down by profit taking in pharma and auto shares.

At 12PM, the Sensex was down 101 points at 26,956 and the Nifty dropped 24 points at 8,070.

The Indian rupee was trading higher at Rs 60.90 compared to the previous close of Rs 60.94. Traders are awaiting August trade and CPI data for direction.

Meanwhile, the provisional data released by the stock exchanges after trading hours yesterday, 10 September 2014, showed that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 9.91 crore on that day.

Asian markets continued to trade in a narrow range after US President Barack Obama said he had authorised US air strike in Syria and also in Iraq to fight the Islamic State militants.

However, Japanese shares remained firm amid a weaker yen. The benchmark Nikkei was up 0.8%. Straits Times was up 0.3% and Hang Seng lost 0.25% while Shanghai Composite was down 0.45%.

The BSE Healthcare Index was the top loser down 1.8% followed by Metal, Oil and Gas, Auto and Consumer Durables among others.

Sun Pharma was down 4% on reports that the company’s manufacturing facility in Halol (Gujarat) is undergoing a surprise inspection by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA). Cipla and Dr Reddys Labs were down 1% each.

IT shares pared early gains with Infosys up 0.1% while TCS and Wipro were trading with marginal losses.

Shares of ICICI Bank were down 0.1%. The stock had gained yesterday after its board had approved the splitting of each equity share into five.

In the Capital Goods space, engineering conglomerate L&T has surged 0.7% while BHEL is down 0.5%.

Cigarette maker ITC which fell yesterday on news of tougher tobacco regulations has gained mearginally today on fresh buying. HUL is up nearly 1%.

Coal India and ONGC have dipped 2-3% each after cabinet committee on economic affairs approved stake sales of these companies.

Auto stocks are also witnessing profit taking after recent gains. M&M, Maruti Suzuki and Bajaj Auto have dipped between 0.3-1.5%. Meanhile, Tata Motors'arm Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), the UK's leading manufacturer of premium luxury vehicles delivered a positive sales performance in August 2014, retailing 30,249 vehicles, up 9% versus the same period last year.

Among other shares, fertiliser stocks are in demand and trading higher by up to 20% on back of heavy volumes in otherwise weak market on the bourses.

Gujarat State Fertilisers and Chemicals (GSFC), Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals (GNFC), Chambal Fertilisers & Chemicals, Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers, Fertiliser and Chemicals Travancore (FACT), National Fertilizers, Southern Petrochemicals Industries Corporation (SPIC) and Zuari Agro Chemicals are up 4-20% on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap index was up 0.8% and the Small-cap index was up 0.9%.

Market breadth was strong with 1,685 gainers and 997 losers on the BSE.