Nifty recoups losses; Reliance, ICICI Bank, Infosys down

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The market recouped almost half of the losses led by buying at lower levels in banks, technology and capital goods stocks. Reliance, Infosys, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank were down just 1%; SBI, L&T and BHEL were marginally lower. The Sensex was trading at 17746.42, down 84.33 points and the Nifty fell 33 points to 5,379.25.

Global markets too were down. European markets like France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE fell around 0.4-0.8%. The Dow Jones futures fell over 60 points. Asian markets closed lower with 0.6-1% losses.

Shares of Hindalco, Sterlite Industries, Maruti Suzuki, M&M, GAIL, Reliance Infrastructure, Jaiprakash Associates, IDFC and Ambuja Cements topped the selling list among largecaps, falling 2-4%.

In the second line shares, Motherson Sumi, BOC India, Hathway Cable, Honeywell Automation and Prestige Estate rallied 6.5-9% while Puravankara Project, Aurobindo Pharma, Hotel Leela, VIP Industries and Essar Ports dropped 5-7%.

At 13:42 hours IST : Sensex extends fall; banks, tech, capital goods down

The market extended its fall in the afternoon trade, led by profit booking in banks, metals (barring Tata Steel), technology and capital goods stocks. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries too dragged the market, falling 1.4%.

The Sensex tumbled 179 points to 17,651.75 and the Nifty tanked 61.5 points to 5,350.90. European markets started off with 0.5-1% loss due to doubts over Greek debt deal that approved yesterday.

Anil Manghnani, Modern Shares & Stock Brokers feels this is a good time to book profits as lot of the good news is in the price already.

Among banks, SBI and HDFC Bank fell 1% each; ICICI Bank tanked 2%. Auto stocks like M&M, Maruti and Hero Motocorp were down 1-2.4% while Bajaj Auto gained 0.7%.

Major largecaps like Infosys, TCS, L&T, BHEL and HDFC dropped 0.5-1.5%. Hindalco was the biggest loser, falling 3.8%.

Metal stocks like Sterlite Industries, Hindalco, Coal India and Jindal Steel declined 1-2.7% whereas Tata Steel shot up 4%.

The market breadth was marginally negative; about 1223 shares advanced while 1540 shares declined on the BSE.