Markets off day's low

Markets have recovered marginally in the noon deals. The Sensex is down 165 points at 15,715 and the Nifty has shed 56 points to 4,707 levels. Earlier in the day, the Sensex had touched a low of 15,596 and the Nifty had dipped below the crucial 4,700 level.

Bharti Airtel is the top loser among the Sensex stocks, down 4% at Rs 334. Tata Motors, L&T, Sterlite Industries, BHEL, Maruti Suzuki, Hindalco, Wipro and State Bank of india are also trading lower by 2-3.8% each.

On the other hand, HUL, Coal India, Tata Power, HDFC and Cipla are among the notable gainers.

Among individual stocks, R Systems International has frozen at the upper circuit of 5% at Rs 119 after Bhavook Tripathi made an open offer to acquire 26% stake in the company at a price of Rs 122 a share.

Petron Engineering Construction has gained 2% to Rs 267 after the company received orders from Lanco lnfratech for the supply of electrical equipment and erection, testing & commissioning of electrical erection package for their 2 x 600 MW Thermal.

State-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) – Indian Oil, HPCL and BPCL are trading higher after the previous day's fall on reports that they are set to raise petrol price by 50-60 paise from December 16 as a weakening rupee and the fuel's rising price in the international bulk market dent bottomlines.

Selling pressure is visible across sectors. Consumer Durable stocks are among the worst hit in trades; the BSE Consumer Durables index is down 173 points at 5,224. Capital Goods index has shed 242 points to 8,740. Auto, realty, IT, metal and bankex indices are also trading lower by 21-2% each.

Titan Industries is the top loser from the consumer durables sector, down 6% to Rs 157. VIP Industries has shed 5.3% to Rs 88. Rajesh Exports, TTK Prestige, Bajaj Electricals and Whirlpool are also among the prominent losers. From the capital goods space, Suzlon Energy is the top loser. It is followed by Havells India, Alstom Projects, Thermax, Punj Lloyd, Praj Industries and L&T.

Mid-cap and small-cap indices are also trading in the red; down 1.5 and 2% each respectively.

The overall breadth is extremely negative as 1,882 stocks are declining while 579 are advancing.