Sensex down over 300 points as heavyweights drag

RIL, M&M, HDFC and Infosys among the top losers

Markets edged lower in noon trades with the benchmark indices down over one percent each in the closing hour of trade. At 1500 hrs, the Sensex was down 304 points at 26,045 and the Nifty was down over 100 points to trade at 7,761.
 
Weakness in RIL, HDFC, M&M, Infosys and SBI weighed on the indices and contributed to 153 point fall seen on the Sensex.
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(Update at 1300 hrs)
Markets slipped in noon trades with the Sensex down over 100 points, amid weak global cues, as investors booked profits in index heavyweights.

At 1420 hrs, the Sensex was down 127 points at 26,222 and the Nifty was off 46 points to trade at 7,818.

Earlier in the day, the markets had opened lower but rebounded later defying weak Asian markets as exit polls suggested that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is set to emerge as the largest party in Maharashtra, thanks to intense campaigning by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, the market turned choppy and remained so till early noon trades.

In the broader markets, the mid and smallcap indices were down a percent each, underperforming the BSE benchmark index which was down 0.4%.

Global Markets

Asian shares were off session lows but still nursed losses amid a sell-off in global equities on Thursday, as heightened concerns about world economic growth pressured U.S. Treasury yields and curtailed the dollar's recent rally.

European trading was seen starting on a modestly stronger footing after the FTSEurofirst 300 shed 3.2% to mark its biggest one-day slide in almost four years.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down about 0.3% in late afternoon trade.

Shanghai shares bucked the downtrend and added 0.1% after Chinese bank lending data provided a regional bright spot. Lending beat expectations last month, a sign that demand for credit may be picking up, though a drop in China's foreign exchange reserves in the third quarter suggested ominous speculative money outflows.

Japan's Nikkei stock average tumbled 2.2% and touched a 4-1/2-month low, though it, too, pulled away from session lows as the dollar retook some ground lost to the yen.

Sectors & Stocks

On the sectoral front, FMCG, Health Care and Realty indices were the only indices in green, up 0.3-0.6%.  Among the draggers were Consumer Durables, Capital Goods, Metal and Power indices down 1-2%.

L&T, Crompton Greaves and BHEL down 0.6-4.5% dragged the Capital Goods index lower.

Sell-off continued in the metal space. Hindalco, Sesa Sterlite, Jindal Steel and Tata Steel slumped 2-4%.

However, in the defensive segment FMCG shares witnessed fresh buying. ITC and HUL gained 1% and 1.5% respectively.

Pharma majors Cipla and Sun Pharma added 0.5-2% and were among the top gainers in noon trades. Dr Reddys was flat with a positive bias.

From the IT space, TCS and Wipro were in green with gains between 0.2-0.8% while Infosys slipped on profit taking after recent gains and was down 0.5%.

Auto space was mixed. Tata Motors was up 1% after the automaker received an order to supply 928 Tata Marcopolo built buses to the State Transport Authorities in South India. Hero MotoCorp was up 0.8% ahead of its earnings due later today.

However, Bajaj Auto and M&M were on a downward trajectory losing 1% and 3% respectively. Baja Auto slipped after the company reported a 29.41% decline in net profit for the quarter ended September.

Banking space was mixed. Axis Bank and ICICI Bank were up 0.7% and 0.2% while SBI, HDFC Bank declined 0.5% each.

The market breadth was negative on BSE. 1,775 stocks declined while 1,004 stocks advanced.