Sensex ends 100 points lower; auto, banks weigh

Markets have extended losses for sixth trading session with Sensex and Nifty slipping over 0.4% dragged by auto and financial shares.

Provisionally, the Sensex ended lower by 133.06 points at 28,717.91 mark and the Nifty slipped 50.65 points at 8,663.30.


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Updated at 14:35

Benchmark indices have extended losses weighed down by selling pressure among auto, banks and oil shares.

At 14:35 PM, the Sensex was lower by 109 points at 28,742 mark and the Nifty has slipped 48 points at 8,663.

The main losers on are Tata Motors, BHEL, Sun Pharma, Tata Steel, Hero Moto and GAIL.


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Updated at 14:35

Benchmark indices are trading flat, amid range bound trading, as the losses in auto and select bank shares have wiped off the gains in information technology and select index heavyweights like HDFC and TCS.
 
At, 1:05 PM, the 30-share Sensex and the 50-share Nifty were flat at the mark of 28,858 and 8,706 respectively.
 
In the broader market, both the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices, down 0.6% and 1% each have underperformed than the front-liners. Market breadth in BSE is negative with 1,781 declines against 832 advances.     
 
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors sold shares worth a net Rs 27.43 crore  on Thursday, as per provisional data.

 
Buzzing Stocks
 
7 out of the 12 sectoral indices of BSE are in red. On the gaining side, BSE IT index, up 1.2%, is the top gainer followed by BSE Teck index, up 0.9% and BSE FMCG index up 0.8%. On the losing side, BSE Auto index has emerged as the top loser and is down 2.5% followed by BSE Power and Healthcare indices which have lost around 0.6% each.  
 
IT shares have gained in today’s session led by Infosys which is up 1.2%. BPO arm of Infosys has secured an IT services deal with a Dutch insurance services for providing outsourcing services. TCS is up 1% and Wipro has gained over 1%.

 
Among pharma shares, Cipla has gained over 2% on reports stating that the company and Pune-based unlisted Serum Institute will plan a marketing tie up under which Cipla will sell Serum's products in selected markets abroad.  Dr Reddys Lab is up 0.4%. However, Sun Pharma has shed around 2%.

Among index heavyweights, HDFC has gained over 3% and ITC is up over 1%.
 
Bharti Airtel has gained around 1% According to media reports, French company Orange SA is exploring various acquisitions in Africa, including assets owned by Bharti Airtel to bolster its business in the region.
 
Metal stocks are trading mixed. Sesa Sterlite has gained around 1.4% while Tata Steel and Hindalco have shed 1.3% and 0.2% each.

 
BHEL has declined over 2%. BHEL has achieved one more milestone by successfully commissioning another 2zo Mw coal based thermal power plant in Maharashtra.
 
Tata Motors has declined over 5% on weaker-than-expected quarterly results. Tata Motors reported a 25.47 per cent decline in its consolidated net profit
 
Other auto stocks too are under pressure. Bajaj Auto has declined around 1%, M&M is down 1.7%, Hero Motocorp is down 2.2% and Maruti Suzuki is down 0.6%.
 
Maruti Suzuki's total production increased by 11.07% in the month of January, 2015 compared to the same month last year. Domestics sales increased by 9.3% in the month of January, 2015 compared to the same month last year while export sales increased by 89% in the same period.

 
Among other shares, Housing Development & Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL) has rallied 6% in otherwise subdued market after the foreign institutional investor (FII) acquired stake in the company through open market.