Benchmark indices down 1%; FMCG, IT drags

Coal India and Tata Motors up 1.5% buck the larger market trend

Markets continue to trade in the negative with the BSE benchmark index down over 1% in early noon deals on account of profit booking at higher levels. At 1120 hrs, the Sensex was down 219 points at 21,020 and the Nifty slipped 59 points to trade at 6,258.

In the broader markets, the mid and smallcap indices were flat with a positive bias, outperforming the Sensex which was down over 1%.

Meanwhile, activity in the services sector, which occupies the largest share in the Indian economy, deteriorated moderately in October, according to the widely-tracked HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) released today.

The services PMI continued to contract for fourth time in a row in October and stood at 47.1 points from 44.6 points in September, when it was the lowest since March 2009.

At 1130 hrs, the rupee was trading at Rs 61.82 compared with Friday's close of Rs 61.74 per dollar.

Stocks in Asia were trading mixed on Tuesday with China's Shanghai Composite down 0.1%, Nikkei was flat and Hang Seng was down 0.3%. Straits Times was one of the exceptions, up 0.3%.

Back home, on the sectoral front, barring Realty index which gained 0.8%, all the other indices were in the negative, with at least a 0.2% cut.

FMCG, Consumer Durables, Power, Teck, IT, Capital Goods and Health Care indices gave off 1-2.5%.

Bankex, Metal, PSU, Oil & Gas and Auto indices slipped 0.2-0.8%.

The only gainers among the Sensex-30 were Coal India and Tata Motors up 1.5% each. HDFC, Cipla and RIL gained 0.3-0.6%.

On the losing side were ITC down 3.5% followed by SSLT, Sun Pharma, TCS, BHEL, Bharti Airtel, ONGC, SBI, Dr Reddys Lab, Wipro, Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Auto, ICICI Bank and Gail India down 1-2%.

The market breadth was very negative. 1,040 stocks declined while 879 stocks advanced on the BSE.