Markets marginally in red, IT shares weak

FMCG, bank, consumer durables shares slip while realty index gains half a per cent

Markets have slipped once again, trading below the dotted line. The Sensex is down 37 points at 19508. Nifty is down 15 points at 5,905.

Markets trimmed their yearly gains this Wednesday after three consecutive days of declines as oversees investors started selling index futures and turned net sellers in cash segment.

Indian services activity expanded last month at its fastest pace since February as burgeoning new orders drove optimism to a five-month high, a business survey showed on Wednesday.

The HSBC Markit Services Purchasing Managers' Index, based on a survey of around 400 companies, rose to 53.6 last month from 50.7 in April. The April reading was the weakest since October 2011.

Broader markets also traded on a flat note. BSE mid-cap index added 5 points while small-cap index advanced 9 points in noon trades.

BSE realty index has gained 0.6% at 1,687. Oil & gas, healthcare, capital goods indices were in the green as well - with gains of 0.1-0.5% each.

On the other hand, BSE FMCG index shed 0.8% at 6,709. Weakness was also noticeable in IT, consumer durables and banking shares.

Sun Pharma has gained 1.5% at Rs 1,034. GAIL India, Hindalco, ONGC and Reliance added 0.6-1.5% each. On the other hand, Coal India slipped 1.5% at Rs 320. ITC shed 1.4%, followed by Infosys, ICICI Bank and Bharti Airtel.