Markets languish in red

Tata Steel top loser among the Sensex stocks

Markets continue to trade on a weak note. The Sensex has slipped 80 points to 17,768 and the 50-share Nifty has shed 32 points at 5,384 levels.

Meanwhile, the broader markets are also trading on a weak note. The BSE mid-cap index is down 0.5% or 31 points at 6,124 and the small-cap index is down 14 points at 6,612 levels.

Tata Steel is the top loser among the Sensex stock, down 2% at Rs 390. Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, Hindalco, Jindal Steel, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries and Bharti Airtel have also slipped 1-2% each.
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(Updated at 9.20 AM)

The markets opened lower in trade today tracking weak global cues. The Sensex lost 60 points at 17,783, while the 50-share Nifty opened 29 points lower at 5,386.

Asian shares retreated from a two-week high on Friday on scaled back expectations of more stimulus from the U.S. Federal Reserve and growth concerns after manufacturing surveys from the euro zone and China depicted a bleak outlook.

But the euro was underpinned by sustained hopes of European Central Bank's action to rein in surging sovereign debt yields in Spain and Italy, as well as a report saying Spain is negotiating with euro zone partners over conditions for aid to drive down its borrowing costs.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.5 percent after gaining as much as one per cent to a two-week high the day before. Japan's Nikkei stock average opened down 1.2 per cent.

Back home, Mahindra & Mahindra is the top loser among the Sensex stocks. It has slipped 1.14 per cent to Rs 763. Tata Steel, Infosys, Sterlite Industries, Tata Motors and SBI are also trading in the negative turf.

Sectorally, the BSE metal index has lost 0.6 per cent in opening trade today. Auto, realty, consumer durables, bankex and power are among the key losers in this space. However, some strength is visible in the BSE healthcare and FMCG indices

The FIIs have been the net buyers Indian stocks to the tune of Rs 123.90 crore on August 22, 2012. The domestic investors sold Indian shares worth a net of Rs33.40 crore on August 21, 2012, SEBI data shows.