Markets pare gains as heavyweights slip

HDFC Bank, HUL, SBI, TCS and Coal India weigh on the indices

Markets slipped into the negative in noon deals on account of weakness in names like HDFC Bank, HUL, SBI, TCS and Coal India. At 1240 hrs, the Sensex was down 11 points at 19,793 and the Nifty edged lower by nine points to trade at 5,898.

The sell-off continued in the broader markets with the midcap index down nearly 1% and the smallcap index gave off 0.5%, both underperforming the BSE benchmark index which was flat with a negative bias.

In Asia, markets were trading mixed. Shanghai Composite, Jakarta Composite, Nikkei and Taiwan Weighted slipped 0.2-3% while Hang Seng was up 0.3%

Back home, FMCG, IT, Consumer Durables and Oil & Gas indices were the only ones in the green, up 0.1-0.6%.

Among the sectoral indices in the red were Metal, Bankex, PSU, Realty and Power indices which lost 0.5-2% in noon deals.

The top gainers among the Sensex-30 were ITC, Sun Pharma, Hero MotoCorp and Mahindra & Mahindra up 1-3%.

Infosys, Cipla, Bajaj Auto, Tata Power and Reliance Industries were some of the other names which gained 0.5-0.8%.

The ones in the red among the Sensex stocks were Hindalco  and Coal India down 5% each along with Hindustan Unilever, Maruti Suzuki, Sterlite, SBI, HDFC Bank, Tata Steel, Dr Reddys Lab, Gail India down 1-3%.

In individual stocks, the two shockers were Wockhardt and Punjab National Bank.

Wockhardt was locked in lower circuit of 10% at Rs 575, extending its past six days fall, after the US Food and Drug Administration on July 18, issued a warning letter to the company for its manufacturing facility in Maharashtra.

Punjab National Bank tanked 6.2% to Rs 589, its lowest level since June 2009, after the state-owned bank said that its gross non-performing assets, as a percentage of advances, rose to 4.84% in June 2013 quarter against 3.34% in year ago quarter. In March quarter, gross NPA stood at 4.27%.

The market breadth was negative. 1,232 stocks declined while 710 stocks advanced on the BSE.