Sensex drops over 400 points; Nifty tests 7,100

At 3:25pm, the Sensex was down 408 points and the Nifty was down 132 points at 7,103

Markets extended losses in late trades with bank shares leading the decline along with FMCG major ITC.

At 3:25pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 408 points at 23,382 and the Nifty50 was down 132 points at 7,103.

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• World stocks end their advance as oil rally falters
• Nifty ends above 7,200 led by SBI

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(Updated at 2:30pm)
Benchmark indices continue to trade 1% lower as investors booked profits at higher and attractive levels amid a weak trend in the global peers and slip in the crude oil prices. Meanwhile, market participants are eyeing the developments regarding the crucial legislations like GST amendment bill in the ongoing budget session of Parliament.

At 2:30 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 316 points at 23,472 and the Nifty50 was down 107 points at 7,127. The broader markets are trading in line with the largecaps. BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices have slipped over 1% each.

KEY STOCKS

In the banking pack, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, IDBI Bank, Bank of India and Union Bank of India dropped up to 3% after rating agency ICRA on Monday lowered the debt rating of Bank of India by one notch, and cut long-term outlook for Central Bank of India, UCO Bank and Indian Overseas Bank, from stable to negative on asset quality concerns. The negative sentiment has spread to the private banking space. ICICI Bank, SBI, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank have shed up to 2%.

Shares of NTPC has dipped 2% extending previous day’s 2% fall on the BSE, after the central government said that it will divest 5% stake in power giant through the Offer for Sale (OFS) route, which begins today. It has fixed the base price at Rs 122 a share.

ITC continues its downward slide and has lost 1.5% on fears that the government may hike excise duty on cigarettes which will impact revenues of India's biggest cigarette maker.

Quick Heal Technologies tanked 12%. The Pune-based antivirus firm which had a weak debut on the exchanges on February 18, has fallen 35% compared to its IPO (Initial Public Offering) price of Rs 321 per share. 

Motherson Sumi Systems has slipped 5% to Rs 210 after the company said in a notice to BSE that its promoter pledged 62 lakh shares on 12 February.

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(updated at 1pm)

Markets are still reeling under pressure weighed down by pressure from across the board. The Budget session of the Parliament begins amid the on-going political controversies where the investors await the fate of crucial bills such as GST.

At 1 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 340 points at 23,449 and the Nifty50 was down 112 points at 7,123.  

The market breadth is extremely weak with 1,680 declines against the 625 advances on the BSE.

However, amid signs of a stormy Parliament session ahead, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today hoped the Budget Session will be fruitful and utilised for constructive debate, adding "friends" from opposition parties had shown "positive" attitude during various interactions.

In the commodity space, oil prices dipped slightly today after posting strong gains the previous session on the back of an expected drop in US production, but which analysts expect to be countered by rising output from Iran.

KEY STOCKS

All 30 stocks from the Sensex pack are trading in red with BSE Bankex down by 2.5%.

At the onset of the Budget session of the Parliament, the banking and financial shares have come under pressure. SBI, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, are all down between 2%-3%.

Shares of Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) has dipped 1.7% to Rs 1,040, its lowest level since November 2014 on BSE, on back of heavy volumes.

ITC continues to remain under pressure and was down 1.5% on worries over excise duty hike on cigarettes in the forthcoming Budget.

NTPC was down 2.1%. The government will divest 5% stake in the power giant through the Offer for Sale (OFS) route on Tuesday, as part of the 2015-16 disinvestment plan. It has fixed the base price at Rs 122 a share.

Prominent losers in the Sensex pack include HUL, Bajaj Auto, Cipla, Lupin down up to 2.4%. On the other hand, Dr Reddy’s Lab, ONGC, Tata Steel and Sun Pharma trading higher up to 1%.

Among other shares, shares of Richa Industries were up nearly 3% at Rs 30.50 on the BSE after the company announced that it has secured an order worth Rs 23 crore from IRCON International Ltd, a government company incorporated by the Ministry of Railways.

Mahindra CIE Automotive has dipped 12% to Rs 169, also its 52-week low on the BSE, after the company reported a sharp 65% year on year (yoy) drop in its consolidated net profit at Rs 148 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2015 (Q3FY16). The company had registered a profit of Rs 424 crore in the same quarter last year.