Sensex trades lower amid volatility; oil & gas, IT dip

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Indian equity benchmarks were trading lower amid volatility today, with the Sensex losing more than 100 points for the first time since couple of weeks. Heavyweights Infosys and Wipro were down around 1.4% each on the back of profit booking at 13:18 hours.

Oil & gas majors like ONGC and Reliance Industries declined nearly 1%. Private financials like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and HDFC were down 1-2%.

Infrastructure companies' shares like L&T, NTPC, Tata Power, Power Grid and Reliance Power slipped 1-2%. Maruti, Bajaj Auto and M&M from auto pack lost 1% while Hero Honda and Tata Motors gained 0.5-1%.

However, heavyweights BHEL, SBI and Bharti Airtel were witnessing buying interest, which limited the fall. Sesa Goa, Ambuja, Ranbaxy, Cipla, Reliance Communications and GAIL were other gainers.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading at 19,567, down 135 points and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 39 points to 5,869.

Patel Engg, Lovable Lingerie, SBI, Orissa Minerals, Titan Industries, HDFC, ICICI Bank and L&T were the most active shares on exchanges.

In midcap space, Alok Industries, Patel Engg, JM Financial, UTV Software and Tecpro Systems gained 6-12%. However, Den Networks, MindTree, Prestige Estate, Berger Paints and Bajaj Holdings lost 3-4%.

In smallcap space, Suven Life, Shree Ram Urban, AP Paper Mills, Himatsingka Seide and Taj GVK Hotels rallied 8-14%. However, Sudarshan Chemical, R M Mohite, Fame India, Rollatainers and OM Metals Infra slipped 4-6%.

About 1569 shares advanced as against 1191 shares declined on the Bombay Stock Exchange.