Sensex down over 250 points; IT bucks trend

The one leading the losses were heavyweights like ICICI Bank, ITC, L&T, ONGC and HDFC Bank

Markets continue to trade lower in noon deals on account of weak global cues and fears of a widening April-June current account deficit locally. The one leading the losses include heavyweights like ICICI Bank, ITC, L&T, ONGC and HDFC Bank.

At 1245 hrs, the Sensex was down 252 points at 19,474 and the Nifty slipped 74 points to trade at 5,759. At the same time, the Rupee was quoting at 62.87 to a Dollar.

Meanwhile, the broader markets were marginally better off, than the benchmark indices. The mid and smallcap indices were down 0.7% each as compared to the 1.4% cut seen on the Senex.

On the sectoral front, except IT index which was up 0.5%, all the other indices were in the red.

Capital Goods, PSU, Metal, Power, Bankex and Realty indices were down 2-3% in noon deals.

FMCG, Oil & Gas and Auto indices too were in the red, down 1-1.7%.

The only gainers among the Sensex-30 were Hindustan Unilever up 1.4% followed by Wipro, Infosys, Sun Pharma and Bajaj Auto, up 0.3-0.9%.

Tata Steel, BHEL, Coal India, ICICI Bank and ONGC down nearly 4-6% were the top losers.

L&T, Bharti Airtel, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hero MotoCorp, Hindalco, ITC, NTPC, Tata Motors and SBI down 1.6-3% were the other notable losers.

The market breadth was negative on the BSE. 1217 stocks declined while 717 stocks advanced on the BSE.

In international markets, Asian stocks bore the early brunt, with MSCI's broadest index of shares outside Japan down 1.2% at a two-week low. Still, it gained 5.7% for the month of September, on track for its best month since January 2012.

Japan's Nikkei fell 1.5% on Monday and South Korean shares lost 0.6%.

European markets, too started off with a sharp cut. All the major markets- CAC, DAX and FTSE- were down 1% each in the opening trades.