Sensex down 200 points; BHEL, Wipro dip 5%

Markets have declined nearly 1% during the noon trades weighed down by Index heavyweights RIL, Infy and ICICI Bank.

 

At 1.20 PM, the Sensex was lower by 254 points at 26,017 mark and the Nifty declined by 80 points at 7,715 levels.

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(updated at 1.20 PM)
Benchmark indices slipped over 0.5% each retreating from its record highs hit in the previous trading session. Profit taking in Reliance Industries, Infosys, ICICI Bank and Wipro dragged markets lower in late morning trades.

At 1155 hrs, the Sensex was down 124 points at 26,147 and the Nifty slipped 40 points to trade at 7,791.

In the broader markets, the smallcap index was down over 1% and the midcap index  slipped nearly 1%, underperforming the Sensex.

On the macro front, the International Monetary Fund on Thursday chopped its 2014 forecast for global economic growth to take into account weakness early in the year in the United States and China, the world's two biggest economies.

Out of the BRICS countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - only India avoided an IMF ratings downgrade, as business sentiment recovers after the country's election.

Sectors & Stocks

Capital Goods, Realty, Power, Oil and Gas, Metal, Consumer Durables and IT indices down 1% each were the major sectoral losers.

Sun Pharma, HDFC and HUL up 2-3% were the top gainers among Sensex-30.

Auto majors Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra and  Hero MotoCorp up over 1% each  were the other notable gainers.

Cipla, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel and Dr Reddys Lab rounded off the gainers list.

The market breadth was negative on BSE. 1,696 stocks declined while 807 stocks advanced.

Rupee

The rupee is trading at 60.14, little changed versus its previous close of 60.12/13. The rupee is seen in 59.90 to 60.30 range during the day with month-end import dollar demand seen supporting the pair.

Asian Markets

Asian shares pulled away from this week's three-year highs on Friday after a mostly flat day on Wall Street, though a fresh S&P closing record and upbeat U.S. employment data underpinned sentiment.

Overnight data from France and Germany showed business activity in those countries strengthened in both July and June, but risks to the euro zone economy from any tougher sanctions on Russia limited the euro's gains.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down about 0.3% in early trade, though still on track for solid weekly gain of more than 1%, while Japan's Nikkei stock average added 0.6%, poised to rise 1% for the week.