Indices slip on poor WPI data; Axis Bank, L&T top losers

The Sensex and Nifty continue to dwindle under pressure post the announcement of Wholesale Price Index (WPI) data.

The wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation rose a five-month high of 6.01% in May against 5.20% in the previous month, driven by costlier protein-based items, fuel and some manufactured products.

The data, released officially today, presents a complex picture before the government and the Reserve Bank of India as its consumer price index-counterpart had eased to a three-month low.

At 1.00 PM, BSE Sensex is trading down 155 points at 25,070, while S&P Nifty is trading down 48 points at 7,493 levels.

BSE Mid-cap is down 0.5% at 8888, while BSE Small-cap is down 0.6 % at 9615 levels.

About 1001 shares have advanced, 1550 shares declined, and 102 shares remain unchanged.

Asian Markets:

Asian markets are trading mixed as crude extended gains and tested nine-month highs on fears the insurgency in Iraq could spread - disrupting oil exports. Rebels from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant seized the northwestern city of Tal Afar, further strengthening their grip on the country's northern region.

In addition, trading was cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy review on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkie lost 1% and Straits Times Index is down 0.07%.  On the other hand, Hong Kong'Hang Seng Index gained 0.04% and Shanghai Composite Index appreciated 0.7%.

Back home:

The Indian rupee on Monday opened lower against the dollar tracking weak cues from the Asian currencies markets. The local currency is currently trading at 59.8 against the US Dollar.

Sectors & Stocks:

Some buying activity is seen in the IT, auto and Pharma sectors on BSE, while sectors such as oil and gas, banking, realty and power are losing sheen.

GAIL, Infosys, TCS and Sun Pharma are among the gainers, whereas Tata Power, L&T, M&M, Reliance, SBI, Tata Steel and Axis Bank are losing sheen on BSE.

In oil and gas space, Reliance and ONGC lost 1.5% and 0.5%, each after crude oil prices soared due to insurgency in Iraq. In contrast, its peer GAIL gained 2.6%

IT stocks gained on weak rupee. Infosys, Wipro and TCS gained 1.3%-1.8%, each

BSE Bankex lost 1.1%, with ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and SBI down 0.5%-1.3%, each

Index heavyweight ITC has surged 0.7%

In metal space, Sesa Sterlite, Hindalco Tata steel and Coal India and Larsen lost 0.3%-2.6%, each

Auto stocks are trading mixed with Bajaj Auto and Hero Motocorp up 1% each and Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors down 0.7%-1.2%, each

In capital goods sector, Larsen and BHEL shed 2.6% and 0.6%, respectively

BSE Power is down 1.3%, with NTPC and Tata Power down 0.9%-1.5%

Among, other shares,  D B Realty has surged almost 20% to Rs 104 in otherwise weak market on back of heavy volumes on the bourses.

Jaiprakash Power, Jaypee Infratech, State Bank of Travancore, GMR Infrastructure, Union Bank of India, JSW Energy from mid-cap and Sterlite Technologies, MTNL, United Bank of India, Patel Engineering, Nava Bharat Ventures and Brigade Enterprises from small-cap index are down more than 5% each.