Nifty below 5,700 levels in early noon deals

Metal index near four-year lows; Hindalco, Jindal Steel and Sterlite down 3% along with L&T, FMCG majors

Selling pressure intensified in early noon deals with the Sensex and the Nifty down 0.5% each as L&T, FMCG names continue to weigh on the index. Also, a sell-off in Chinese equities dragged Asian shares down sharply on Monday, as worries about Beijing tightening its grip on the property sector compounded weak sentiment already dampened by a patchy global growth outlook.

At 1300 hrs, the Sensex was down 91 points at 18,827 and the Nifty slipped 36 points at 5,684.

The broader markets are underperforming the benchmark indices. The BSE Mid-cap index has plunged 1% or 6,245 and the small-cap index gave off 1.6% at 6,097.

Among the sectoral indices, metal index was trading near to its four-year low after mixed data on the US economy and worries about scant demand from top consumer China as well as high inventories levels. China is the world's largest copper consumer, accounting for about 40% of global demand. Among individual names, Hindalco, Jindal Steel and Sterlite down 3% each were the major draggers.

The other major losers were Capital Goods, Consumer Durables and Auto down nearly 2% each.

Among the index stocks, Bajaj Auto, L&T, Hindustan Unilever, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Steel and ITC down 1-2%.

The only gainers among the Sensex stocks were Dr Reddys Lab up 1.6% followed by TCS, SBI and Reliance Industries, up 0.3-0.5%.

The market breadth was very negative. 1807 stocks declined while 686 stocks advanced on the BSE.