Markets weak in noon trades

The markets are facing rough weather this afternoon on the back of dismal set of cues from the global front. The Sensex is at 17854, lower by 131 points and the Nifty is at 5358, down 37 points. The midcap index is at 6817, lower by 54 points and the smallcap index is at 8177, down 72 points.

World stocks are hovering near three-month lows as the Greek sovereign debt has reared its head once again. There is red across the Asian Street, with the Hang Seng, Nikkei and Seoul shedding nearly a poercent each. European markets are also having a bad session, with the FTSE, CAC and DAX losing around a percent each in opening trades. And the ripples are being felt back home.

TCS has weakened by 2.7% at Rs 1120 to top the losers list on the BSE. Hindalco has shed 2.5% at Rs 168, Infosys has lost 2% at Rs 2744 and RIL has lost 1.7% at Rs 872.

On the other hand, Tata Steel is going strong since this morning. The steel major has strengthened by 2.6% at Rs 567 to top the gainers list on the BSE after selling its entire stake in Australia’s Riversdale Mining to Rio Tinto Group for A$1.06 billion (Rs 5,012 crore).

The market breadth is weak. Out of 2859 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 927 advancing stocks as against 1812 declines.