Markets continue to languish;FMCG weigh

FMCG majors ITC and HUL along with RIL and ONGC weigh on the indices

Markets fell further in noon trades amid profit taking in FMCG majors and oil and gas shares.

At 1415 hrs, the 30-share Sensex was down 235 points at 19,358 and the 50-share Nifty was down 76 points at 5,755.

Markets held firm post the announcement by the Reserve Bank of India's policy review. However, selling pressure later dragged the indices lower.

“It has been decided to keep the repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) unchanged at 7.25%. The reverse repo rate under the LAF, determined with a spread of 100 basis points below the repo rate, stands at 6.25%,” RBI said in a statement.

The Central Bank said that the current situation – moderating wholesale price inflation, prospects of softening of food inflation consequent on a robust monsoon and decelerating growth – would have provided a reasonable case for continuing on the easing stance.

Expressing disappointment over the RBI's move for not cutting the key policy rates, India Inc today asked the government to take immediate actions to revive growth and boost investments.

Asian markets firmed up on Tuesday after China's central bank injected funds into money markets for the first time since February, while the dollar index edged up from a five-week low as investors positioned for the Federal Reserve's policy meeting. The Nikkei was up 1.5%, Shanghai gained 0.7%, Hang Seng rose 0.4% and Straits Times was up 0.1%.

The BSE oil &Gas indices was the top loser among the sectoral indices on the BSE down 3.3%, followed by Realty, PSU, Metal, Power and FMCG indices.

In the Sensex pack, FMCG majors ITC and HUL were down over 2% each.

Reliance Ind and ONGC eased 2.6-5% each while Tata Motors, Hindalco and Bharti Airtel losing 3-5% were the other notable losers.

Shares of IT majors remained firm on the back of a weak rupee. Infosys, Wipro and TCS were up 1-2.6%.

In the broader market, both the BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap was down 2% each.

Market breadth was weak with 1,520 losers and 624 gainers on the BSE.