Sensex trades lower; SBI, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, RIL dip

ALSO READ See Key Market Stats - Top Gainers/ Losers, Most Actives, Highs/Lows See how Global Markets are trading Indian ADRs Nifty BSE | NSE 31/05/12 Are Mutual Funds betting on Nifty?

At 12.12 hrs IST, the markets were trading in a narrow band with negative bias on expiry day. The Sensex was down 55.97 points or 0.33% at 17142.98, and the Nifty down 21.10 points or 0.41% at 5087.05. Selling was seen in banks, FMCG, IT and capital goods. Buying was seen in auto and metal stocks. The BSE Midcap index was trading with positive bias while the BSE Smallcap index was marginally in the red. Banks fell the most after Chinese banks plunged on concerns of capital raising to meet the growing loan requirements.

The Nifty November future was trading at discount while Nifty December future was trading with 10 points premium. The rollover for market is seen between 65-70%.

About 1259 shares had advanced, 1575 shares declined, and 599 shares were unchanged.

Asian markets were trading lower. China's stocks fell on concern that banks will have to raise more capital to meet swelling loan demand which dragged the financial companies lower. China's Shanghai Composite plunged 2.40% or 79.066 points at 3,211.099.

In the largecap space, Hindalco was the top gainer on the Nifty with 3.48% gain. Cement stocks like ACC, Ambuja Cements and Grasim rose 1.5-2%. Sterlite Industries was up 1.4% after copper and zinc had hit multi-month highs.

On the losing side, Tata Steel was down 2.35% ahead of its consolidated results. Stocks like HCL Tech, Ranbaxy Labs, Reliance Capital and Jindal Steel were down more than 1% each.

Top gainers on the BSE Midcap: Bayer Cropscience, EIH, India Cements, KGN Industries and Simplex Infra were up 5-6%.

Top losers on the BSE Midcap: Dena Bank, Nagarjuna Construction, United Phosphorous, Vijaya Bank and Hindustan Oil Exploration were down 3-4%.

Top gainers on the BSE Smallcap: Atlanta, Binani Industries, TV Today, HEG and Dalmia Cement were up 6-12%.

Top losers on the BSE Smallcap: Jindal Worldwide, Gee Kay Finance, Allied Digital, Swaraj Mazda and Shristi Infra were down 4-5%.

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