Broader markets slip in late morning trades

After a negative opening, the Sensex has moved lower to touch the day's low thus far at 18,094 in the mid morning trades as the sluggishness in Realty and Metal indices continue. The Sensex is currently at 18,151, down 162 points and the Nifty shed 50 points at 5,466.

In the broader markets, the smallcap and the midcap indices are down 1% each as compared to the Sensex which is down 0.8%. In the smallcap space, 423 scrips have declined as compared to 99 advances. The draggers here are Kirloskar Brothers Investments, Halonix, Tilaknagar Industries and Ferro Alloys down 6-8%.

In the midcaps, only 47 stocks moved up while 226 stocks moved down.Balrampur Chini down 7% followed by Gujarat Fluorochemicals, IVRCL and Orchid Chemicals losing 4% ecah are the major losers.

Among the sectoral indices, Health Care and Oil & Gas indices have moved into the green in the late morning trades while Consumer Durables have turned flat. However, Realty, Metal and It indices down 1% each continue to languish in the red at the bottom of the sectoral chart.

The top gainers among the Sensex stocks are ONGC and Cipla up 1% each followed by NTPC and Hindustan Unilever adding 0.3-0.6%

Among the losers, Jaiprakash Associates down 4%, Reliance Communications, Sterlite, ITC, Hindalco and DLF down 1-3% are the leading losers.

The market breadth continues to be negative. 1,760 stocks declined while 695 stocks advanced