Markets plunge in noon deals

Markets are on a downward spiral and continue to trade on a weak note in the noon deals on the back of selling pressure visible across the board. The Sensex has shed 311 points at 17,612 and the Nifty is down 101 points at 5,328.

According to Hormuz Maloo, Technical Analyst, Geojit BNP Paribas Securities, "It is evident that we are within a short term decline now. However it is possible that this decline is part of a more substantial medium term decline which could take the Nifty much lower. During March, I feel the Nifty will largely be in a medium term downtrend, punctuated by short term corrective uptrends."

In Asia, the Nikkei closed lower by 13 points at 9,633 levels, Hang seng was down 223 points at 21,183. However, Shanghai and Taiwan were trading marginally higher.

Back home, Jindal Steel is the top loser among the Sensex stocks, down 6.3% to Rs 574. Tata Steel has shed over 5% to Rs 451. BHEL has slipped 5.2% to Rs 288 on reports that Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa on Friday scrapped the 1,600 megawatt (MW) power joint venture (JV) and announced that the government would fully fund the project itself.

DLF, Hindalco, Tata Power, ICICI Bank, Hero MotoCorp, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Motors, NTPC, Mahindra & Mahindra, State Bank of India, Wipro, Maruti Suzuki and Reliance Industries are also trading lower by 2-4.6% each.

On the other hand, Cipla, Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel, HUL and ITC are among the notable Sensex gainers.

Realty, metal and capital goods sector stocks are amongst the worst hit ion trades so far. The BSE Realty index 4.4% or 85 points at 1,842 levels. Anant Raj Industries is the top loser from this space, down nearly 7% to Rs 64. HDIL, DB Realty, Unitech, Sobha Developers, Sunteck Realty and Phoenix Mills are also among the laggards.

Metal index has also shed 4.2% or 513 points at 11,560 levels and the Capital Goods index is down 3.6% to 10,180 levels.

Power, Auto, Bankex, Consumer Durables, PSU, Oil & Gas, IT and Healthcare indices have also shed 0.4-3.4% each.

At the same time, FMCG index is the only sectoral gainer, up 0.2% to 4,197 levels.

The broader markets are also facing the selling pressure. The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices are down nearly 2.5% each.

The overall breadth is extremely negative as 2,004 stocks are declining while 609 are advancing.