Sensex down over 200 points; banks drag

Meanwhile, Gail India, Hindalco, Coal India, Maruti Suzuki and Hero MotoCorp buck trend

Markets continue to trade weak with the benchmark indices down nearly 1.2% each in late morning trades. Weak Asian cues and profit booking at higher levels in index heavyweights like ITC and Reliance Industries lead the decline.

At 1130 hrs, the Sensex was down 237 points at 20,398 and the Nifty gave off 73 points to trade at 6,049.

Broader markets too were in the red but relatively better off with the mid and smallcap indices down only 0.3% each.

In Asia, stocks stumbled and the dollar stood tall on Thursday after minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's October meeting hinted at stimulus tapering, while the euro was pressured by speculation of more easing by the European Central Bank.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped about 0.3%. Nikkei was the only market in the green with gains of nearly 2%.

Back home, all the sectoral indices were in the red with banking index down 1.5% being the top sectoral loser.

Consumer Durables, Capital Goods, Realty, FMCG, Power, PSU, Oil & Gas and Teck indices were down 1-1.4%.

IT, Health Care and Metal indices were down 0.7% each.

Auto index was flat with a negative bias.

Sun Pharma, Sesa Sterlite, HDFC, ITC, NTPC, ONGC and L&T down 1.7-2.3% were the prominent losers.

Infosys, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank and SBI down 1-1.5% were the other major losers.

The only gainers among the Sensex-30 were Gail India, Hindalco, Coal India, Maruti Suzuki and Hero MotoCorp which added 0.2-1%.

The market breadth was negative. 1175 stocks declined while 767 stocks advanced on the BSE.