Markets remain in the doldrums

The markets continue to remain in the dumps in the noon session. Any hopes of a rebound, aided by a favourable European opening, have been squashed atleast for the time-being. The FTSE, CAC and DAX have retreated for the seventh time in eight sessions, shedding between 1% and 2% each, after tepid Chinese macro data raised concerns about the global recovery. The Sensex is quoting at 17502, weaker by 199 points and the Nifty is at 5247, down 65 points.

There is no respite on the Asian front either.  All the benchmark indices, including the Shanghai, Hang Seng and Nikkei, are down in the region of around a percent each.

The top losers on the Sensex are Sterlite (weakened by 3% at Rs 164), RCom (shed 2.8% at Rs 192) and ICICI Bank (lost 2.6% at Rs 839). TCS, Tata Steel and BHEL are the other significant losers. And index heavyweight RIL has lost 1.1% at Rs 1074.

On the other hand, defensive buy Hindustan Unilever has added 1.4% at Rs 270 to emerge as the leading gainer on the BSE. And giving it company are Bharti Airtel and Tata Power, which have added about half a percent each at Rs 264 and Rs 1309 respectively.

The market breadth is neutral. Out of 2850 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1343 advancing stocks as against 1398 declines.