Nifty off highs; auto stocks in focus, Maruti down

After beginning the day with great confidence amid a firming trend in other Asian markets following overnight gains on the Wall Street, benchmark indices fell victim to profit booking. At 11 am, the Sensex stocks came off sharply from their morning highs. The index was trading only 0.08 percent higher at 26176.80 while the Nifty lost its initial proximity to the 8000 level and precariously clung to 7939.50. HCL tech remained biggest drag on the Nifty.Auto stocks remained in focus as companies prepare to announce their September  sales report card.  Maruti Suzuki, which had run up the previous few sessions was among the top Sensex losers as it reported slight dent in its annual exports and grew only in single digits. The company's total sales Y-o-Y was higher by 3.7 percent at 1.13 lakh units.Tata Motors, Eicher Motors and Bajaj Auto were other prominent losers in the auto sector while Ashok Leyland, Hero MotoCorp and M&M were gainers.The banking stocks like SBI, ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank, Canara Bank, PFC and IFCI were in focus on news that state-owned Ratnagiri Gas and Power will be split into two ventures - power and LNG terminal to revive the Dhabol power project. The lenders exposure to the project stands at Rs 8,000 crore and the power plant is expected to need refinancing uner the 5:25 rule.Separately, IDFC and Gujarat Gas were buzzing as the former begins trading ex-of the bank business now while the latter comes out of trade-to-trade segment. Pharma stock Strides Arcolab was actively trading after it received tentative US FDA nod for HIV drug Ril-Pivi-Rine. The day also saw traders evincing interestin Everyday after it hiked prices by 50 paisa apiece.Meanwhile a Credit Suisse report indicated that Titan has hinted at a weak quarter on declining jewelry business. Credit Suisse estimates a 20 percent year-on-year dip in the company's jewellery revenues in second quarter.