Markets extend losses weighed down by financials

Markets extended losses in noon trades weighed down by selling pressure in financials after the RBI mooted extra provisioning for unhedged forex exposure.
The weakness in the rupee and rising crude oil prices also weighed on market sentiment.

The 30-share Sensex was down 278 points at 19,186 and the 50-share Nifty was down 89 points at 5,769.

In the financials space, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI and HDFC were down 1-3% each.

In the oil and gas space index heavyweight Reliance Industries and ONGC were down 1.8-2% each after recent gains following the government's decision to steeply hike domestic natural gas prices.

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(Updated at 11:25am)
Markets continued to languish in late-morning deals, extending losses further as PMI data indicated signs that the economy is still struggling to grow. The Sensex touched a low of 19,207 and is now down 250 points at 19,214. Nifty is down 75 points at 5,783.

The HSBC Markit Services Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 51.7 in June from May's three-month high of 53.6, in a sign that India's economy is still struggling to climb out of a quagmire of low growth and high inflation.   Although the index has steadily held above the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction for nearly two years, it teetered on the brink in April before gathering pace in May.   But the latest data shows that any cheer over May's strong performance may have been premature.  

Meanwhile, the rupee today fell by 37 paise to again slip below the 60 mark at 60.03 in early trade at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market, on heavy dollar demand tracking strengthening of the US currency overseas.

Asian shares extended their losses after a survey showed that growth in China's services sector sagged to its weakest pace in nine months in June, adding to signs of a slowdown in the world's second-largest economy.   Hong Kong shares extended losses with Chinese material and banking counters coming under selling pressure as losses accelerated after the China services data and a consumer sector survey remained modest in June.

Meanwhile, BSE realty index has slipped 4% at 1,502. Metal, PSU and bankex shares were also weak - down 2-3% each. However, the healthcare and FMCG indices managed to hold on to gains this morning - up around 0.3% each.

Hindalco has slipped 4.3% at Rs 98. Tata Steel and Sterlite from the metal space have followed with 4% losses each. Among other key losers are SBI - down 3.3%, Bharti Airtel - down 3%, Reliance and ICICI Bank. On the other hand, GAIL India has added 0.8%, followed by Sun Pharma, ITC and HUL.

BSE market breadth is negative. Out of 1974 stocks traded,1212 shares have declined while 664 shares have advanced in trades.