Heavyweights drag Nifty below 5,700 mark

Being the last trading session before the derivatives contract expiry on Thursday as bourses will observe a holiday tomorrow on account of 'Dusshera,' the market witnessed heavy selling along with sharp volatility throughout the day.

Setting aside overnight surge fuelled by optimism over earnings, trading commenced on a flat note in the absence of any follow up buying and sluggish overseas cues.

FMCG, capital goods, technology, auto, bank and metal counters encountered selling.

The market remained largely directionless ahead of settlement of F&O contracts for October though stock specific actions were seen following earnings announcements.

On the global front, Asian shares closed lower on concerns over weak earnings and outlook.

The 50-share Nifty hovered between 5,720.80 and 5,681.45 before concluding at 5,619.40, showing a loss of 25.75 points, or 0.45 per cent, over its last close.

Jindal Steel, Hero MotoCorp, Kotak Bank, Lupin, ACC, Hindalco, JP Associates, Infosys, ITC and Bajaj Auto were top Nifty losers. Gainers included BPCL, L&T, Siemens, HUL, IDFC, Coal India, ICICI Bank, Cipla, Dr Reddy's and Bharti Airel.

The turnover in cash segment slumped to Rs 8,284.21 crore from Rs 9,293.35 crore yesterday. Overall, 5,140.16 lakh shares changed hands in 46,63,632 trades. Total market capitalisation stood at Rs 64,61,127 crore.