Nifty slips below 8,700; Sensex down over 300 points

Benchmark indices failed to hold its gains are trading lower in the late morning trades owing to profit booking at higher levels amid positive global cues.

In the early trades, Sensex reclaimed the 29,000-mark by surging 253.35 points at 29,183.76 and the Nifty regained the 8,800-level by moving up by 73.75 points at 8,849.75

By 11.35, the Sensex is lower by 310 points at 28,610 and the Nifty has slipped 93 points at 8,683.

However, BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are trading marginally in positive zone. Market breadth in BSE has turned weak with 1,324 declines against 1,021 advances.

"Markets which had run-up ahead of the passage of the insurance bill are witnessing profit taking at higher levels. Further, the strong dollar and concerns over hike in interest rate by the US Fed continues to weigh on investor sentiment. Technically, the market is yet to give a buy signal," said Alex Mathews, Head-Research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.

On the macro-economic front, the combined consumer price index (CPI) data for rural & urban for February increased to 5.4% in February from revised 5.2% in January. Food items were major contributors to the CPI inflation increase in February 2015.

Rupee

The rupee depreciated by 16 paise to 62.66 against the US currency in late morning trade due to fresh dollar buying by banks and importers as well as a weak local equity market.

Stocks in Action

On the sectoral front, all sectoral indices are trading in the negative territory with BSE Bankex, Auto, Capital Goods and Realty indices trading lower between 0.5-1%.

The industrial growth slowed to 2.6% in January, against 3.2% in December 2014. In the capital goods space, L&T and BHEL are trading lower by 1.4%.

ITC, HUL, Emamai, Jubilant Foods, Tata Global, Marico, Godrej Consumer from the FMCG pack are trading weak and have lost up to 3% after retail inflation rose to a four-month high of 5.37 per cent in February, largely due to a spike in the prices of vegetables and pulses.

 The Technology pack is trading lower in today's trade. Wipro and TCS have lost up to 1%.

On the flip side, HDFC and ICICI Bank continue to trade higher up to 1.2% after the passage of Insurance Bill in the Rajya Sabha late Thursday evening.

State-owned thermal power generator NTPC has received regulatory approval to issue Rs 10,307 crore worth of bonus debentures, the largest ever by an Indian company. The stock is trading with marginal gains.