Markets near day's low

The Sensex is now at 17,082, down 145 points. The NSE Nifty is at 5,100, down 47 points.
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(Updated at 1212hrs)

The markets continue to trade weak. The Sensex is quoting at 17,156, lower by 70 points, and the Nifty is down 24 points at 5,123. Metals, banks and energy stocks are feeling the pressure.

Weak global cues are weighing down on the indices. The US stocks fell overnight after Dubai's unresolved debt problems and Fitch Ratings' downgrade of Greece's bond rating dented risk appetite, and this has had a spiralling impact on the Asian markets. Moreover, the Weaker-than-expected economic data hit stocks in Japan.

The steel stocks are taking it on the chin in this morning's trade. Sterlite (weaker by Rs 21 or 2.4% at Rs 841), Tata Steel (lower by Rs 14 or 2.4% at Rs 554) and Hindalco (down Rs 2 or 1.5% at Rs 144) are among the notable losers. Reliance Infrastructure and HDFC have lost between 1% and 2% each.

Hero Honda (stronger by Rs 25 or 1.5% at Rs 1,697), TCS (higher by Rs 8 or 1.1% at Rs 706) and Sun Pharma (up Rs 15 or 1% at Rs 1,482) feature in the list of gainers.

The market breadth is, however, strong. Out of 2,607 stocks traded on the BS, there are 1,542 advancing stocks as against 971 declines.

DLF tops the value charts on the BSE, clocking a turnover of Rs 49.87 crore, followed by Suzlon at Rs 49.77 crore, HDIL at Rs 43.31 crore, Unitech at Rs 42.12 crore and Tata Steel at Rs 41.94 crore.

Suzlon has clocked the highest volumes of 14.54 million, followed by IFCI at 19.83 million, Unitech at 11.35 million, HDIL at 3.52 million and DLF at 2.55 million.