Markets have extended losses on global cues. European futures down 1-2% each. The BSE Sensex is down 505 points at 15,558 and the Nifty is down 153 points at 4,658.
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(Updated at 1130 hours)
The markets continued to trade weak in late-morning trades with the BSE Sensex at 15,812, down 254 points and the Nifty at 4,742, down 70 points. Earlier in the day, the BSE benchmark index touched the day's low at 15,794 and the day's high at 15,670.
Among the sectoral indices, BSE Bankex, Oil & Gas, IT and Auto indices, down nearly 2% each, are leading the losses.
HDFC Bank, IDBI Bank, SBI and Canara Bank, down 2-3% each, are the major losers among the financials.
BPCL, Essar Oil and Reliance Industries, down 3% each, are the top losers from the Oil & Gas space.
BSE Realty index is the top gainer, up marginally.
On the Sensex, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, Mahindra & Mahindra, Reliance Industries and JP Associates, down 2-4% each, are the prominent losers.
The only gainers from the pack are Cipla, Maruti Suzuki and Hindustan Unilever, up marginally.
Among individual stocks, Siemens has tumbled 4% in morning trades following a 29% drop in Q4 net profit. Siemens reported a 29% drop in net profit for the quarter ended September 2011 at Rs 178.1 crore due to exchange loss of Rs 158.6 crore. Sales grew 19% over the corresponding previous quarter at Rs 3,558.6 crore. New orders and order backlogs were at Rs 12,288.6 crore and Rs 13,921.3 crore, respectively.
Thomas Cook has shed 5% at Rs 38 in morning trades as it announced that it is in talks with banks for increasing its borrowings to tide over a challenging financial situation within the group.
Shares of private banking major HDFC Bank were down nearly 3% tracking weakness of its American Depository Receipt on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday.
SKS Microfinance has dropped to a new low on reports that Vikram Akula may resign as executive chairman of the company he founded in 1998. If Akula leaves the company, it will be the second high-profile departure after the exit of Suresh Gurumani, former chief executive of SKS, last year. There is also speculation the micro-lender will appoint P H Ravikumar, a board member of SKS and head of Invent Assets Securitisation and Reconstruction, as the non-executive chairman. The scrip is currently at Rs 116, down 5%.
Shares of sugar companies are trading higher, bucking the weak trend in the broader market, after the government allowed one million tonnes of sugar export. The EGoM headed by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee allowed export of a million tonnes of sugar for the 2011-2012 crop marketing year that started in October and also lifted the stock holding limit on the sweetener from November 30.
The overall market breadth is negative as 1,548 stocks have declined against 767 advancing ones, on the BSE.
