Weak trades continue, Sensex down 235pts

The markets continued to trade week in noon trades with the BSE Sensex having shed 235 points at 16,227 and the Nifty at 4,870, down 65 points.

Earlier in the day, the BSE benckmark index touched the day's high at 16,388 and the day's low at 16,165.

In Asia, the Nikkei stock average slid below 8,400 to its lowest level in more than a month, after
surging bond yields in euro zone nations spooked investors and fuelled fears of tightening global credit conditions. The Nikkei fell 1.2% to 8,375, marking a weekly loss of 1.6%. The broader Topix index shed 1.1% to 720, losing 1.3% for the week. The Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng indices ended lower by nearly 2%.

Among the sectoral indices, BSE Realty, Power and Capital Goods indices, down 2-3% each, are leading the losses.

BSE Healthcare index is the only sector in the green, up marginally.

On the Sensex, BHEL, JP Associates, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Coal India, down 3-5% each, were the prominent losers.

The gainers from the pack are Hero MotoCorp, Cipla, Sun Pharma Industries, Tata Power and Bharti Airtel, up nearly 1% each.

Among individual stocks, Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering Company has hit the lower circuit in the opening deals. The stock has hit the 20% lower circuit at Rs 55.

Parsvnath Developers is trading lower by 20% at Rs 58 after the promoters of the company pledged 71% of their holding.

The overall market breadth is negative as 2,132 stocks have declined against 615 advancing ones, on the BSE.