Sensex slides 178 points as Asia remains a drag

Extending losses to hit a fresh intra-day low following a bout of volatility, the benchmark Sensex is trending lower by 178 points, weighed down by capital goods, metal and healthcare amid weakness in Asian cues.
Mild buying was seen in auto, consumer durables and realty stocks though.
The 30-share index resumed lower at 26,641.69 and moved in a range of 26,824.30 and 26,499.02 before quoting at 26,479.31 at 1154 hours, a fall of 177.52 points, or 0.67 per cent.
The 50-share Nifty was also trading down by 47.20 points, or 0.59 per cent, to 8,018.60 at 1154 hours.
Bajaj Auto lost 4.46 per cent as Hindalco, Tata Steel and Lupin too ran up losses.

However, M&M rose 3.32 per cent followed by ICICI Bank and Tata Motors.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) net sold shares worth Rs 1,464.89 crore last Friday, as per provisional data released by stock exchanges.
Overseas, Asian stocks declined after soft Chinese factory numbers stoked global growth worries.
US stocks trended lower last Friday after a string of economic data suggested that the economy is still sluggish.