Heavyweights drag markets lower

Jindal Steel top loser among the Sensex stocks, slips 10% in the intra-day deals

Markets have slipped into the red in the late noon deals on the back of selling pressure visible in the metal and other heavyweight counters such as Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank.

The Sensex is down 35 points at 18,683 and the 50-share Nifty is down 17 points at 5,638. The trading so far, was stuck in a tight range where in the Sensex moved in a range of 150 points and the 70 points.

Meanwhile, the European markets are trading on a firm note post the yesterday's sell-off. French CAC 40 index is up 24 points at 3,723, DAX is up 21 points at 7,949 and the FTSE has gained 21 points at 6,180.

Back home, Jindal Steel is the top loser among the Sensex stocks. The stock has slipped 10% to Rs 199 in the intra-day deals so far on the back of heavy volumes. The stock has tanked 20% in the past two trading sessions also its lowest value since April 2009 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

Hindalco, Sun Pharma, Sterlite Industries, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, BHEL, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, HUL, ITC, HDFC Bank and SBI are also among the losers, down 0.5-4% each.

On the other hand, NTPC, Dr Reddys Lab, Hero MotoCorp, Infosys, TCS, maruti Suzuki, Bharti Airtel, ONGC, Gail India and Tata Power are among the gainers.

On the sectoral front, the BSE metal index has cracked 2% to 7,550 levels. Realty, bankex, PSU, consumer durables, oil & gas, FMCG, healthcare and capital goods indices are also trading in the red. While, the BSE IT and Teck indices continue to trade on a positive note.

Shares of power generation and distribution companies have rallied on the bourses up to 5% after the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) today allowed power companies to pass on the cost of imported coal to customers.

Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) has rallied nearly 20% to Rs 12.45, bouncing back 24% from intra-day low, on heavy volumes on reports that Blackstone Group Lp is close to buying an office park in suburban Mumbai from HCC Real Estate Ltd and IL&FS Milestone Fund for Rs 1,001 crore.