Mumbai, May 21 (Inditop) Indian equities markets were in consolidation mode a little after noon Thursday, with a key index dipping some 46 points below its last closing figure.
The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which had opened lower at 14,043.38 points, was trading in a tightly-bound range since the opening bell.
Around noon, it was at 14,014.25 points, 46.41 points or 0.33 percent lower than its last closing figure Wednesday.
The S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was doing better to rule at 4,305.75 points, 0.83 percent higher than its last close.
Broader market indices at the BSE were also doing better, with the BSE midcap index gaining another 3.13 percent from its previous close, and the BSE smallcap index 6.22 percent.
Of the 13 sectoral indices on the BSE, the indices for PSU and realty stocks gained the most, while auto and capital goods stocks came under selling pressure.
The market breadth was positive with a lot of upward movement by relatively smaller companies. At the time, 2,220 stocks had advanced, 285 declined and 47 remained unchanged.
Among the gainers at this time on the Sensex were ONGC, up 8.61 percent at Rs.1,076.70; Ranbaxy, up 7.41 percent at Rs.234; Reliance Communications, up 5.98 percent at Rs.326.80; and NTPC, up 5.21 percent at Rs.219.20.
Among the losers were Maruti Suzuki, down 6.17 percent at Rs.979; HDFC, down 4.3 percent at Rs.2,115; Mahindra and Mahindra, down 4.12 percent at Rs.650.70; and L&T, down 3.9 percent at Rs.1,306.40.
Other Asian markets were also in the red, with a key index of Tokyo markets, the Nikkei, shutting shop 80.49 points in the negative at 9,264.15 points.
The Hang Seng, the primary index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, also fell 223.1 points to 17,252.74 points.
Similarly, in the US, stocks tumbled on Wall Street in the last hour of trading Wednesday as the Federal Reserve issued dreary economic projections for the rest of the year.
The Federal Open Market Committee said it anticipated a fourth-quarter contraction in the gross domestic product (GDP) of up to 2 percent, a drastic drop from the 1.3 percent it had projected in January.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 52.81 points, or 0.6 percent, to 8,422.04 points, while the broader Standard and Poor’s 500 Index shed 4.66 points or 0.5 percent, to 903.47 points.
The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index lost 6.70 points or 0.4 percent, to 1,727.84 points.
