Nifty slips 68 points; banking, metal lead fall

Benchmark Nifty extended losses for the second consecutive day today but managed to close above the 10,000-mark following selling pressure in banking, metal, finance Service, pharma and realty counters.
Weak Asian cues and disappointing July services PMI also dented sentiment.
European stocks reversed intra-day losses. Asian stocks declined after surging to the highest level in almost 10 years, with investors assessing the strength of company earnings before American labour-market data provides the latest clues on the health of global economy.
The 50-share Nifty opened lower 10,081.15 and slipped further to 9,998.25 before finishing at 10,013.65, down 67.85 points or 0.67 per cent from its last close.

It saw an intra-day movement of about 82.90 points.
Sector-wise, PSU Bank fell 2.89 per cent, followed by Metal (1.91 per cent), Bank (1.52 per cent), Private Bank (1.47 per cent), Finance Service (1.30 per cent), Pharma (1.24 per cent), Realty (0.85 per cent), Auto (0.68 per cent) and Media (0.47 per cent).

Energy was the lone gainer by 1.22 per cent.
Major index losers were Lupin, Coal India, Bank Of Baroda, Hindalco, Tata Motors DVR, Yes Bank and Dr Reddy's.
Index gainers included IOC, ACC, Ambuja Cement, Bharti- Airtel, Bharti InfraTel, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Auto and Reliance.
The broader markets underperformed key indices as the Nifty midcap and smallcap indices tanked 1.08 per cent and 1.04 per cent, respectively.

Market breadth was heavily weighed towards the negative zone. A total of 1,246 scrips declined, 435 advanced while 68 remained unchanged.
Total securities that hit their price bands were 126.
Turnover in the cash segment rose to Rs 27,705.36 crore from Rs 24,103.57 crore yesterday.
A total of 14,804.19 lakh shares changed hands in 9,287,024 trades. The market capitalisation of listed firms on the NSE stood at Rs 1,30,39,755.95 crore.