Sensex marginally down; Reliance, Tata Power, BHEL fall 2%

Indian equity benchmarks remained marginally lower, weighed down by capital goods, banking and oil & gas exploration stocks. However, the drug producer Sun Pharma topped the buying list with 3 percent gains.

Asian markets continued to trade lower with Shanghai, Hang Seng, Kospi, Taiwan Weighted and Straits Times falling between 0.6 percent and 0.9 percent. Back home, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 38 points to 18,900.53 and the 50-share NSE Nifty lost 17 points to 5,730.15.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries fell 2 percent. Country's largest lenders State Bank of India and ICICI Bank slipped nearly 1 percent.

Engineering and construction major Larsen & Toubro was down 0.9 percent. State-run power equipment maker BHEL and private power producer Tata Power tanked 2 percent each.

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel and drug producer Cipla gained 1.35 percent each.

Cigarette major ITC, housing finance company HDFC, steel producer Tata Steel, two-wheeler maker Bajaj Auto and car maker Maruti Suzuki went up 0.5-0.9 percent.

Realty major DLF tanked 4 percent despite clarification by the company over Robert Vadra deal issue.

The broader markets outperformed benchmarks with BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising 0.6 percent each. Advancing shares outnumbered declining by a ratio of 1315 to 824 on the BSE.