Sensex, Nifty, Midcap remain under pressure; BHEL, Vedanta lose

Moneycontrol Bureau12:55 pm Market Update: The Sensex fell 198.43 points or 0.81 percent to 24340.57 and the Nifty declined 58.20 points or 0.78 percent to 7397.35.The market breadth remained weak as five shares declined for every share advancing on the BSE.12:40 pm Ashok Leyland's expansion: Hinduja flagship firm Ashok Leyland plans to set up two assembly plants in Africa besides doubling capacity at Ras al-Khaimah facility in the UAE this year as part of its global expansion.The company, which will unveil a school bus and a commercial vehicle later today at the Auto Expo here, will invest around Rs 100 crore in these overseas commercial vehicles assembly plants. "We are looking at a couple of smaller assembly plants in Africa.

We haven't identified the location yet. Besides, we are also looking to double the capacity of our Ras al-Khaimah facility," Ashok Leyland Managing Director Vinod K Dasari told PTI here on the sidelines of the expo. On investments, he said as these are small facilities the company could invest around Rs 40-50 crore on each.12:20 pm Market Outlook: The market could correct another 5 percent from current levels near term, Raamdeo Agrawal, Joint MD, Motilal Oswal Financial Services tells CNBC-TV18. However, Agrawal is positive in his outlook from a 12-month perspective.On volatile commodity prices, he says crude have to stabilise first for other commodities as well to settle down.Also read - Vitara Brezza is Maruti's statement for 'Create in India': CEO12:00 pm Market Check

The market remained under pressure in noon trade following consistent fall in Asian peers and oil prices. The Sensex fell 237.60 points or 0.97 percent to 24301.40 and the Nifty declined 72.80 points or 0.98 percent to 7382.75, led by banking & financials, oil, infra and auto stocks.

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were down 1.5-2 percent. Even the market breadth remained pathetic as about five shares declined for every share advancing on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

BHEL and Vedanta topped selling list on Sensex, down more than 4 percent followed by Reliance Industries, Tata Motors, L&T, Axis Bank, SBI, ONGC and Hindalco Industries with 2-3 percent loss while HUL outperformed, up 2.5 percent.

Asian stocks traded sharply lower, after Wall Street sold off as much as 2 percent overnight amid a plunge in oil prices. Japan's Nikkei 225 dropped 3.36 percent, while the Topix fell 3.46 percent. Australia's ASX 200 extended losses, finishing down 115.72 points, or 2.32 percent, at 4,877.60. Chinese markets followed rest of Asia lower, with the Shanghai composite down 1.28 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index declined 2.68 percent, after falling as much as 3.32 percent at market open.

Oil futures extended losses into a third session in Asian trade today, as US crude stocks last week surged to more than half a billion barrels and as Iran plans to boost exports from March. Brent crude declined 0.6 percent to USD 32.5 a barrel and US oil lost 0.4 percent to USD 29.76 a barrel.