Sensex falls over 200 points, Nifty below 8,400

Markets have extended losses and are trading near day’s low weighed down by selling pressure among FMCG, metal, capital goods and financial shares.

At 12:53PM, the Sensex was at 27,736, weaker by 221 points and the Nifty was at 8,398, down 60 points.

The top losers on the Sensex are ITC, Vedanta, Coal India, HDFC and BHEL.

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Updated at 11:35

Benchmark indices continue to trade lower weighed down by global markets, along with selling pressure among FMCG and metal shares leading the fall.

At 11:35am, the Sensex was at 27,815, weaker by 143 points and the Nifty was at 8,426, down 33 points.

However, the broader markets are outperforming the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are up 0.3-0.4%.

The market breadth is positive. Out of 1447 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 727 advancing stocks as against 666 declines.

Further, foreign portfolio investors bought shares worth a net Rs 211.42 crore on Friday, as per provisional data.

Markets may remain volatile this week as traders roll over positions in the futures & options segment from the near month May 2015 series to June 2015 series. The near month May 2015 F&O contracts expire on Thursday, 28 May 2015.

In the overseas markets, Asian shares got off to a lacklustre start on Monday, after rising inflation and a hawkish tone from the US Federal Reserve Chair rekindled expectations that the Fed is on track to hike interest rates.

SECTORS & STOCKS

BSE FMCG and Metal indices are up over 1% followed by Healthcare, IT, Consumer Durables, Capital Goods and Power, all declining marginally. However, BSE Oil & Gas index has surged almost 1%.

Shares of ITC have dipped 3% to Rs 319 on the NSE in early morning trades after the company reported a lower-than-expected 3.7% year on year (yoy) growth in its net profit at Rs 2,361 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2015 (Q4) due to muted growth in cigarette business and decline in agri segment.

Other notable losers are Vedanta, Coal India, HDFC, HUL, Tata Steel, BHEL and Tata Motors. On the gaining side, Bharti Airtel, M&M, ONGC, HDFC Bank and RIL have gained between 0.1-3%.