Markets down amid weak Asian cues

ITC, RIL and financials among top Sensex losers

Markets continued to edge lower in noon trades on Friday, amid weak Asian cues, weighed down by selling pressure in index heavyweights and financials.

At 12:50PM the Sensex was down 110 points at 18,649 and the Nifty was down 35 points at 5,670.       

Asian shares fell sharply on Friday as disappointing earnings from large corporations raised worries over economic growth slowdown. Shares in Japan witnessed profit taking after they recently touched four-week highs. The Nikkei ended down 1.4%. The Shanghai Composite was down 1.5%, Hang Seng dropped 1.2%. The KOSPI was down 1.7% cent after lower-than-expected from global electronics major Samsung.

Among the sectoral indices on the BSE, Consumer Durables, Healthcare, FMCG, Oil and Gas were among the top losers down 1-1.9% each. However, Auto Index was the sole gainer up 0.7% led by Mahindra and Mahindra which gained nearly 2% after it reported better-than-expected net profit rise of 22 per cent in the second quarter, driven by surging demand for diesel-driven SUVs.

Index heavyweights Reliance Industries and ITC were down over 1.5% each on profit taking after recent gains.

Financials were down on reports that the central bank is unlikely to ease key policy rates at its second quarter monetary policy review on Tuesday in wake high inflation. HDFC, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and SBI were down 0.6-1.4% each.

Among other shares Punjab National Bank has dipped 6% to Rs 755 after reporting lower than expected 12% year-on-year (yoy) fall in net profit at Rs 1,065 crore  for the second quarter ended September 2012 due to higher provisioning for bad loans. Analyst on an average had expected profit of Rs 1,209 crore from state-owned bank.

The BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices were down 0.3% each.

Market breadth continued to remain weak with 1,533 losers and 962 gainers on the BSE.