Sensex slumps around 300 points; Nifty breaks 8,050

Benchmark indices have slumped further dragged by selling pressure among index heavyweight Reliance Inds and financial shares.

At 11:53AM, S&P BSE Sensex was down 289 points at 26,560 levels and the CNX Nifty dipped 91 points to trade at 8,033 mark.

Among broader markets, BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are down 0.4-1%. The market breadth is weak with 1,358 declines versus 727 advances on the BSE.

In the currency front, the rupee strengthened by another 8 paise to 63.76 against the dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on sustained selling of the US currency by exporters and banks as the current account deficit shrank in the fourth quarter.

Further, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 482.11 crore yesterday 2015, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges

Among macro-economic data, the government is scheduled to unveil industrial production data for April 2015 tomorrow. Industrial output growth touched a five-month low of 2.1% in March from a revised 4.9% in February on the back of an across-the-board slowdown in production.

On the same day, the government is scheduled to unveil the consumer price index (CPI) data for the month of May 2015.

SECTORS & STOCKS

Sectors like Auto, Banks, Power, IT, Capital Goods, Consumer Durables and Oil & Gas have slipped between 0.6-1.3%. Apart from FMCG, all the sectoral indices are trading in negative zone.

Banking shares are trading lower on account of profit booking. Financial shares gained momentum in last two trading sessions after the RBI allowed banks to take control of debt-laden companies by converting loans into equity. SBI, HDFC, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank have plunged between 1-2%.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries has declined over 2% on the BSE ahead of the annual general meeting on June 12. Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, could use the company's 41st annual general meeting to announce plans for telecom subsidiary Reliance Jio Infocomm.

Tata Steel has slipped over 2% after Unions in UK notified plans to take industrial action in dispute over the Tata Steel UK's proposals to revise the British Steel Pensions Scheme's contribution and benefits framework.

Other notable losers are Tata Motors, M&M, Cipla, Dr Reddy’s Labs and BHEL.

Shares of Vedanta are trading higher by 1% at Rs 187 on the BSE in an otherwise weak market on reports stating that the company is set to make an official announcement on Sunday regarding its merger with wholly owned subsidiary Cairn India.

SMART MOVERS

AstraZeneca Pharma India was locked at 20% upper circuit at Rs 1,148 after the company announced the launch of Forxiga (dapaglifozin), a breakthrough treatment for Type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals has gained after Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Inc., USA has been granted final approval by the USFDA for Calcipotriene Cream, 0.005%.

Shares of TVS Motor Company are trading at Rs 229, registering a 2.5% gain in the early morning trades on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) after the automobile manufacturer bagged a patent for technology related to three wheeler engines.