Sensex down nearly 200 pts; Hindalco down 3.5%

Weak macro data and FIIs turning net sellers drag markets lower

Markets continue to trade around the lows of day on higher-than-estimated March WPI numbers. The wholesale price index for March came in at 5.7% as against analyst estimate between 5% and 5.2%.

The inflation stood higher in all the three broad categories -- primary articles (unprocessed items), fuel and power and manufactured goods.

Further, market sentiment also dampened after foreign investors turned net sellers on Friday. As per the provisional data on the stock exchanges, FIIs were net sellers in Indian equities to the tune of Rs 362 crore on Friday.

At 1245 hrs, the Sensex was down 191 points at 22,438 and the Nifty dipped 56 points to trade at 6,720.

The broader markets were fairly resilient with the midcap index down 0.2% while the smallcap index was flat with a negative bias.

All the sectoral indices were in red except the IT index up nearly 1.5%.

The only gainers among Sensex-30 were IT majors, TCS, Wipro and Infosys up 2% each along with Bharti Airtel and Dr Reddys Lab up 0.6-1.3%.

Among the ones in red were HDFC, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hindalco, Sesa Strelite and Hero MotoCorp down 2-3.5%.

The market breadth was marginally negative on BSE. 1,345 stocks declined while 1,133 stocks advanced.