Market remains lacklustre; Sun Pharma gains almost 4%

Markets edged lower in early deals on profit taking in heavyweights like Tata Motors, L&T, SBI, ONGC and Axis Bank.

At 1430 hrs, the Sensex was up 32 points at 21859 and the Nifty was up 2 points at 6,514.

ITC, Sun Pharma, TCS, ICICI Bank and HDFC are the top Sensex gainers at this hour.

Broader markets gave off its early gains and turned flat though with a positive bias.

On the sectoral front, Capital Goods index was down 0.7%.

Bankex, Realty, Power, Oil & Gas and Auto indices slipped 0.2-0.7%.

Meanwhile, defensives like Health Care, consumer durables and FMCG indices gained between 1.1-1.3%.

IT, Teck and Metal indices added 0.2-0.3%.

Sun Pharma up nearly 4% continues to remain the top gainer among Sensex-30.

ITC, Hero MotoCorp, Wipro, Coal India, Maruti Suzuki and TCS up 1-2% were the other notable gainers.

BHEL down 2% along with Tata Motors, SBI, ONGC and Hindalco down 1.5-1.8% were the major losers of the hour.

Index heavyweights like Reliance Industries, L&T and HDFC Bank gave off 0.4-1%.

The market breadth was negative. 1,334 stocks declined while 1,166 stocks advanced on the BSE.

In Asia, stocks fell on Wednesday as economic uncertainty in China and the United States combined with political tensions in Ukraine to keep investors cautious and commodities under a dark cloud.

Japan's Nikkei retreated 2.6%, continuing the see-saw pattern of the last couple of months, while Australian stocks shed 0.6%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.1%.

Investors were hoping Chinese data on industrial output, retail sales and urban investment on Thursday might offer some clarity on where the economy is heading.