Sensex, Nifty at a two week low; Tata Power down 6%

Losses in ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, L&T and ITC contributed to nearly 100 points fall

Markets intensified their downward spiral in noon deals as profit booking in index heavyweights like ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, L&T and ITC weighed on the indices.

At 1300 hrs, the Sensex was down 151 points at 20,736 and the Nifty gave off 47 points to trade at 6,174, which is a two week low.

In the broader markets, the smallcap index was down 0.6% and the midcap index lost 0.4%, almost in line with the BSE benchmark index.

The rupee continues to trade weak due to dollar buying by importers and banks. The strengthening of the dollar globally is also a affecting the rupee.

At 1300 hrs, the rupee was trading at Rs 62.51, a one month low, compared with previous close of Rs 62.26 per dollar.

On the sectoral front, barring IT index which was up 1%, all the other indices were in the negative.

Capital Goods, Power, Metal and Auto indices down 1-2% were the top losers.

It heavyweights like TCS, Infosys and Wipro, up 0.3-2.7% were the few gainers among Sensex-30.

Hero MotoCorp, Maruti Suzuki, HDFC Bank and Bharti Airtel up 0.4-0.9% were the only other gainers.

Tata Power down 6% was the top loser followed by Hindalco, L&T, Tata Steel, BHEL, NTPC and Coal India down 2-3%.

Auto majors Bajaj Auto, Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors dropped 0.4-3.5% on account of disappointing December sales numbers.

Among the banks, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and SBI slipped 1-2%.

RIL, ONGC and Gail India down 0.8-2% were the notable losers from the oil & Gas space.

The market breadth was negative. 1,386 stocks declined while 864 stocks advanced on the BSE.