Markets languish in afternoon trades

IT, banks among key draggers

Markets continued to trade in the red after erasing earlier gains in afternoon trades. The BSE Sensex has slipped 139 points at 19,252. Nifty is down 42 points at 5,859.

"As per charts, Nifty has formed the Doji candle stick formation on daily charts yesterday trade which indicates that there is indecisiveness between the buyers and sellers. Today’s plunge can be the confirmation for further downside rally till 5700," said Mudit Goyal, technical analyst, SMC Global.

Broader markets outperformed the benchmark with marginal gains. BSE mid-cap traded at 7,036 while the small cap index was at 7,428.

Meanwhile in Asia, Nikkei has jumped nearly a per cent to 9,545 as a weaker yen supported exporters and as investors looked toward the nation’s general election later this month. Hang Seng, Kospi, Shanghai Composite and Straits Times traded on a flat note.

BSE IT index led the losses - down 2% at 5,654. Capital goods, bankex, healthcare and power indices are down around half a per cent each.On the other hand, BSE consumer durables index has held on to gains and is up 0.5% at 8,076.

Infosys and TCS were the top losers on the Sensex - down 2-2.5% each. Bharti AIrtel has slipped 1.7% at Rs 324. HDFC Bank is among the major draggers and is down 1.5% at Rs 682. Among other losers are Cipla, Mahindra & Mahindra, Gail, ONGC, SBI and ICICI Bank. Meanwhile, Sterlite has added 1% at Rs 114. Bajaj Auto is up 1%, followed by Tata Motors and HDFC.