Markets trim losses, HUL top gainer

Key benchmark indices have trimmed losses with selling pressure easing across the board. Renewed buying among Realty and Capital Goods segments has also supported the recovery.

At 1045 hrs, the Sensex was down 42 points at 16,607 and the Nifty slipped 16 points to 5,034.

On the sectoral front, BSE IT, Oil & Gas, Consumer Durable and Healthcare indices have slipped by nearly 1% each. Sectors like PSU, Banks, Auto, Power, Metal and FMCG are trading marginally lower. However, BSE Realty and Capital Goods indices have gained by nearly 1% each.

Rate sensitive sectors are witnessing selling pressure on account of profit booking after seeing a sharp rally on rate cut expectations.

From the Auto segment, Bajaj Auto, M&M, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and Hero Motocorp are down 0.5-1%.

Oil & Gas majors Reliance Industries and ONGC have dipped between 1-2%.

However, engineering major sales Larsen & Toubro has recovered from the lower levels and is up by almost 1%. BHEL is almost flat 

FMCG major HUL is the top Sensex gainer, up nearly 2%. ITC is marginally positive.

Real Estate stock DLF has gained over 1%.

Other notable gainers include Bharti Airtel, Hero Moto, GAIL, Sterlite, Tata Steel and HDFC Bank.

Among individual shares, Jain Irrigation Systems is trading higher by 3% at Rs 76.65, extending its 6% rally in past three trading days after Macquarie Bank acquired more than 1% stake in the company through bulk deal.

BEML is trading lower by 4% at Rs 392 on reports that the company’s truck assembly units at Bangalore, Mysore and Palakkad are operating below capacity after army orders dropped in 2011-12.

The market breadth in BSE turns positive with 1,089 shares advancing and 918 shares declining.