Sensex slips over 300 points as banks, metals drag

Markets weakened further in noon trades and are seen heading towards seventh straight session dragged by financials and metal shares amid concerns in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia announced on Wednesday night that it had launched a military campaign in Yemen. 

At 12:05PM, the 30-share Sensex was down 317 points at 27,794 and the 50-share Nifty was down 80 points at 8,451.

Mortgage lender HDFC was down 3% contributing the most to the Sensex losses along with ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank.

Among metal shares, Hindalco, Coal India and Sesa Sterlite were down 1.4-2.8% each.
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(Updated at 11:50AM)
Benchmark indices continue to decline sharply for the seventh straight session weighed down by financials and technology shares amid concerns in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia announced on Wednesday night that it had launched a military campaign in Yemen.  

Also, investors are trading cautiously ahead of the March F&O expiry due later during the day coupled with concerns over the fourth quarter earnings.

At  11. 50 AM, the 30-share Sensex is down 299 points at 27,813 and the 50-share Nifty has lost 75 points at 8,456.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors were net buyers in equities to the tune of Rs 813 crore, as per provisional stock exchange data.

RUPEE

The Indian rupee depreciated against the US dollar and was trading lower by 30 paise at 62.63 compared to the previous close of 62.33 because of renwed demand for the greenback from banks and importers.

CRUDE OIL

Brent crude oil shot up nearly 6 percent on Thursday after Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies began a military operation in Yemen, but the benchmark later came off its high near $60 as importers saw no immediate threat to supplies.

Oil prices jumped as traders and importers said they were worried the Saudi attack was a sign that fighting in the oil-rich Middle East was spreading and out of control.

KEY STOCKS

On the sectoral front, BSE IT, Bankex, Healthcare, Consumer Durables indices are trading lower up to 1%. However, BSE Capital Goods, Power indices are trading higher up to 1%.

Capital Goods majors BHEL, L&T are trading higher up to 2% in a subdued market on renewed buying interest at lower levels.

Bharti Airtel is up 1.5% as the spectrum auction came to an end on Wednesday. Idea Cellular was up 2% and Reliance communications was up 0.5%. 

Gail (India) is up 0.6% and Gujarat State Petronet (GSPL) has surged 5% on reports that the government will be allowed these companies to import gas on spot basis. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Wednesday approved the import liquified natural gas for supply to gas-based power plants stranded due to a shortfall in the production of domestic natural gas in the country.

Selsect auto stocks are trading higher in today’s trade.  Bajaj Auto, Hero Motocorp are trading higher up to 0.5%.

Tata Motors is down 1.2%. The stock had gained on Wednesday after the board approved issue of 6 fully paid-up Ordinary shares for every 109 fully paid-up Ordinary shares held at a price of Rs 450 per shareand 26.5 million 'A' Ordinary shares at Rs 271 per share. The company's board also approved the buy-back of Secured Non-Convertible Debentures worth Rs 1250 crore issued by it in May 2009, maturity date being March 31, 2016. 

Pharma shares which had gained yesterday on the back of merger deal between Sun Pharma and Ranbaxy Labs also witnessed profit taking. Sun Pharma and Dr Reddy's Labs are down over 1% each.

The technology pack is trading lower today. Infosys, Wipro and TCS are trading lower up to 1.5%.

Mahindra & Mahindra, India's largest maker of sport-utility vehicles, is in talks to buy Italian automobile design and engineering company Pininfarina SpA.  The stock is trading flat.

State-owned oil and gas explorer ONGC is making an investment of Rs 40,000 crore in the Krishna-Godavari basin in a phased manner in the next four years. The stock has lost 1.5%.

Private lender HDFC Bank said Andhra Pradesh and the newly-formed Telangana stood top on the bank's high-growth avenues and added the regions would see expansion in branch network in the next two to three years. HDFC Bank is trading lower up to 1.6%.

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices are down between 0.3-0.5%.

Market breadth is weak with 1,458 losers and 838 gainers on the BSE.