Sensex skids over 300 pts, Nifty below 8000; IT stocks up

Moneycontrol Bureau11:55 am Buzzing: Shares of aviation stocks are flying high as aviation turbine fuel (ATF) price is slashed by 11.6 percent to Rs 40,591/kl. This is second time ATF price cut in last two months. Fuel price was cut by a massive 9.5 percent, or Rs 4,860, to Rs 46,407/kiloLitre in August.

Both Jet Airways and SpiceJet jumped 2-3 percent intraday.

Hovering at around 6.5-year low, weak crude prices have been beneficial for airline companies. Oil prices had already been under pressure last fall when OPEC decided in November to maintain production levels and defend market share rather than cut output to prop up prices.

11:40 am Market check: The market skid further as the Sensex is down 303.87 points or 1.2 percent at 25979.22 and the Nifty slips 97.55 points or 1.2 percent at 7873.75. About 641 shares have advanced, 1576 shares declined, and 84 shares are unchanged.

Axis Bank, HDFC, Bharti Airtel, Hindalco and SBI are among major laggards in the Sensex. Among the gainers are TCS, Infosys, Sun Pharma, NTPC and ONGC.11:30 am  Auto sales: Maruti Suzuki, the country's largest car maker, has sold 1,17,864 vehicles in August, a growth of 6.4 percent over a year-ago period driven by Ciaz, S-Cross and Alto Automatic but impacted by big fall in compact car sales and lower exports. Overall sales growth was much lower than expected as Nomura estimated 9.2 percent growth year-on-year at 1.21 lakh units. Domestic sales in August grew by 8.6 percent to 1.06 lakh units whereas export declined 11.1 percent to 11,083 units compared to same month last year.Don't miss: See pickup in activity; GDP up 5% as per old series, says Pros 

The market continues to be under pressure mostly dragged by banks. The Sensex is down 189.30 points or 0.7 percent at 26093.79 and the Nifty slips 59.30 points or 0.7 percent at 7912. About 666 shares have advanced, 1427 shares declined, and 67 shares are unchanged.

HDFC, Lupin, Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel and Hindalco are among major laggards while IT stocks are up on rising rupee. Sun Pharma, Infosys, TCS, ONGC and NTPC are top gainers in the Sensex.

Oil prices fell 3 percent in Asian trade, with investors covering short positions and taking profits after Brent and US crude soared more than 8 percent in the previous session. Both Brent and US crude prices dropped nearly USD 2 a barrel shortly after trading in Brent started on Tuesday before recovering later in the session.