Sensex lacklustre: metal index down 3%

The Sensex exhibits lacklustre movement and is now at 17,083, down 17 points. The NSE Nifty is at 5,097, down 11 points.

Bharti Airtel has soared 3% to Rs 320. Reliance Communications has advanced 2.5% to Rs 184. IT stocks like TCS, Infosys and Wipro are up 0.5% each at Rs 703, Rs 2,403 and Rs 641, respectively.

Metal stocks like Hindalco and Sterlite and Tata Steel have slipped 3% each to Rs 142 and Rs 861 and Rs 560, respectively.

Reliance and Reliance Infrastructure are the other prominent losers on the Sensex, down over 1% each.

The market breadth is positive, out of 2,714 shares traded, 1,546 have advanced and 1,075 have declined so far on the BSE.

Among the sectoral indices, metal index has shed 2.5% to 16,454 and oil & gas index is down 10,337, respectively.