Markets remain weak dragged by auto shares

Auto stocks have witnessed profit taking after recent gains. Tata Motors, Hero Moto Maruti Suzuki and M&M have slipped between 1-3%.

Benchmark indices continue to trade lower amid volatility weighed down by auto and financial shares.

By 1305, Sensex plunged by 73 points at 20,151, and the Nifty down 31 points or 0.51% at 6,125 levels.

On the global front, Japan's Nikkei share average edged up to a fresh 5-1/2-year high on Tuesday, reversing earlier losses, as retail investors scooped up underperforming stocks such as Sharp Corp  and Tokyo Electric Power Co Inc .   

The Nikkei rose 0.1% to 15,381.02, the highest closing level since December 2007, after being in and out of negative territory in choppy trade. During the day, it rose as high as 15,388.37, its best mark since the same time. Sharp surged 8.7% and Tokyo Electric 12.3%. The broader Topix gained 0.1% to 1,270.39.    

Back home, the rupee trimmed its initial gains, but was still trading higher at 55.06 against the dollar in late morning deals owing to exporters selling, despite higher dollar overseas.

On the sectoral front, BSE Realty and Auto indices have plunged by nearly 2% each followed by counters like Power, Healthcare, Capital Goods, PSU, Bankex and Metal, all falling down by 1% each. However, BSE IT index has gained by nearly 1%.

DLF, Godrej Properties and Anant Raj Ind were the top losers in the realty segment down 3-4% each.

Auto stocks have witnessed profit taking after recent gains. Tata Motors, Hero Moto Maruti Suzuki and M&M have slipped between 1-3%.

From the financial space, SBI and HDFC Bank have declined by 1% each.

Metal shares like Sterlite, JSPL and Tata Steel have slipped between 1-2%.

On the winning side, Coal India, BHEL, TCS, ICICI Bank and Infosys have gained between 1-2%.

Among other shares, Nestle India is trading higher by 3% to Rs 5,252, extending its previous day’s 3% gain, on back of heavy volumes.

Kalindee Rail Nirman (Engineers) has rallied 12% to Rs 56, extending its previous day’s 3% gain, after the company said it has garnered three large value projects each of around Rs 200 crore from Railways in the second half of the last year.

Fortis Healthcare has dipped 5.5% to Rs 96 on back of heavy volumes after fresh shares allotted to qualified institutional bidders (QIB) starts trading today.

The market breadth in BSE remains weak with 1,252 shares declining and 809 shares advancing.