Markets remain weak

The markets are reeling under the pressure of profit-booking in the afternoon session. The uncertainty surrounding the euro-zone countries' deficit reduction plans seems to be taking a toll on the day's proceedings. The Sensex has shed 157 points and is now quoting at 171720, while the Nifty is down 44 points at 5151. All the sectoral indices are in the red, with metal, realty and power stocks taking a big beating.

The broader market  space has also lost a bit of its shine. The mid-cap space is now down 0.6% at 6956 and the small-cap index has lost 0.3% at 8917. And the market breadth has turned negative. out of 2807 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1089 advancing stocks as against 1626 declines.

In the metal space, Hindalco has weakened by 3.1% at Rs 169, Tata Steel has shed 2.3% at Rs 587 and Sail has lost 2.2% at Rs 213. 

In the realty pack, HDIL has weakened by 3.9% at Rs 246, DLF has lost 2.6% at Rs 296 and Unitech has shed 2.5% at Rs 77.

And the power space is seeing the likes of ABB, Reliance Power and BHEL succumbing to profit-booking. ABB has weakened by 1.5% at Rs 689, while Reliance Power has shed 2.2% at Rs 145 and BHEL has lost 1.7% at Rs 2398.

On the gainers side, M&M has strengthened by 0.9% at Rs 559 and Hero Honda has advanced by 0.5% at Rs 1897.