Markets extend losses

The markets are near the day's low, the Sensex is down 218 points at 20,279 and Nifty is down 70 points at 6106.

IT, Tech and Banking stocks continue to witness heavy profit booking, the IT index is down nearly 3% or 174 points at 6104. Tech index is down 2.3% at 3765 and Bankex is down 174 points at 14,147.

IT stalwarts Wipro, TCS and Infosys are down more than 2.3% each. Mphasis, Oracle Financial Services Software and Tech mahindra are also among the losers.

Federal Bank is the top loser among the Banking stocks, the stock is down 2.3% at Rs 435, followed by Bank of India, Axis Bank and SBI down more than 1% each.

Bharti Airtel, ITC, ACC and J P Associates are among the losers on the Sensex down more than 1% each.

However, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Power, NTPC and HDFC are significant gainers on the Sensex.

Meanwhile, the European markets have opened on a firm note, french CAC is up 17 points at 3836 and FTSE is at 5742 up 15 points. However, Hang Seng is down 91 points at 23,761.

Backhome, the market breadth is negative, out of 2974 stocks traded on the BSE, 1498 stocks are advancing and 1380 stocks are declining.