Lacklustre trades continue

Realty, banks drag

Markets continued to trade on a soft note following cues from global bourses. The Sensex is down 125 points at 18668. Nifty is down 40 points at 5,663 in trades. Meanwhile, the broader markets have slipped 0.8% each to 6,625 and 7,103, respectively.

Investors fretted about the world's economic prospects after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) downgraded its global growth estimates for 2012 and 2013. In Asia, the Nikkei slumped 2% to 8,596, followed by Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng.

The rupee declined for fourth day in a row by losing 16 paise to Rs 52.88 per dollar in early trade today, weighed down by dollar's gains overseas.

BSE realty index slipped 3.6% to 1,821. Power, capital goods and bankex are down over 1% each.

BHEL continued to be the biggest loser among Sensex stocks - down 2.5% at Rs 244. GAIL, SBI, NTPC and ONGC were down 1-2% each. Reliance and Tata Steel, however, tried to hold on to gains. Among major draggers were HDFC Bank, Larsen & Toubro and ICICI Bank.

DLF has dipped 4% to Rs 215 on the National Stock Exchange after a fresh allegation from activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal accusing the Congress-led Haryana government of favouring realty major.

PSU OMCs fell as US crude oil futures surged to the highest level in a week on Tuesday amid increased Middle East tension. BPCL, HPCL and IOC dropped around 1% each.

Cairn India informed markets on Tuesday that in Q2 September 2012, the average daily gross operated production of oil and gas was 207,245 barrels of oil equivalent (boe), 22% higher than the corresponding prior period. Shares of Cairn India were up marginaly in trades.

Canara Bank is down 2% in late morning deals after it introduced a new retail loan scheme, which provides for purchase of consumer durables like LED Flat Screen TV, Microwave Oven, Sofa set and many other articles a customer aspires for.

Car sales in India fell in September for the second consecutive month, an industry body said on Wednesday, as high interest rates, rising fuel costs and slowing economic growth continued to drag down demand. Cummins India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Exide Industries, Bharat Forge and Ashok Leyland were some of the key losers in the sector.

Ranbaxy Laboratories added 0.7% at Rs 543, extending Tuesday's 1.96% gains triggered by the company's subsidiary launching an authorized generic drug in United States under an agreement with Daiichi Sankyo, Inc.

Polaris Financial Tech slipped 6% to Rs 126 after the market regulator Sebi banned the company's promoter Arun Jain from dealing in the securities market for two years accusing him of violating insider trading norms.

BSE market breadth was fairly negative. Out of 2,546 stocks traded, 1,537 shares declined while 860 shares advanced in trades.