Financials drag benchmark indices lower; Nifty nears 6,100

However, Bajaj Auto,Dr Reddys,Tata Power, BHEL,TCS buck trend

Markets continue to trade in the negative territory with the benchmark indices down 0.5% each as weakness in the global markets weighed on the investor sentiment. The ones leading the losses were metal and financial shares.

At 1300 hrs, the Sensex was down 110 points at 20,610 and the Nifty slipped 37 points at 6,115.

However, there was some buying in the broader markets with the midcap index up 0.2% and the smallcap index up 0.1% when compared to the 0.5% decline seen on the BSE benchmark index.

Among the sectoral indices, banking index down 1.5% was the top loser followed by Oil & Gas, Metal, Auto, FMCG, Teck and IT indices losing 0.1-0.6%.

Among the ones in the green were Realty and Power indices up 0.7% each along with Consumer Durables, and Health Care which gained 0.5% and 0.3% respectively.

Bajaj Auto and Dr Reddys Lab up 1.5% each were the top gainers among Sensex-30 in noon trades.

Tata Power, BHEL, TCS, NTPC and Sun Pharma up 0.2-0.9% rounded off the gainers list.

From the financial space, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, SBI, Axis Bank and HDFC have plunged between 0.7-2%.

Shares of metal companies are trading lower by up to 2% in early morning deals after China’s PMI data for the month of February fell to a seven-month low.

Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Hindalco Industries, Steel Authority of India, Jindal Steel and Power and Sesa Sterlite are down 1-1.6%.

Other notable losers are Infosys, ONGC, Bharti Airtel and M&M which slumped between 0.6-0.8%.

The market breadth was very negative on the BSE. 1,292 stocks declined while 1,059 stocks advanced.

Global Markets

Asian stocks tumbled on Thursday and the yen firmed as a survey painted a grim picture of China's manufacturing sector, heightening uncertainty about the outlook for the region's economic powerhouse.

Asian equities were already on the back foot, tracking U.S. losses after minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting and a chorus of U.S. central bank officials showed it remained on track to taper its stimulus.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan extended its drop after the China survey, losing 1 percent. Japan's Nikkei stock average ended down 2.2 percent, marking its biggest daily percentage drop in two weeks.

The preliminary China Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) from HSBC/Markit for February fell to a seven-month low of 48.3 in February from January's final reading of 49.5, as employment fell at the fastest pace in five years.