Sensex weak amid choppy trade; TCS, RIL, ONGC, Infosys dip

Indian equity benchmarks extended sell-off for third consecutive session today, pulled down majorly by oil & gas and technology companies' shares. The 50-share NSE Nifty was inching back closer to 5350 level, reacting to weak global cues.

The Nifty was trading at 5,363, down 34 points and the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 120 points to 17,867.

On the global front, European markets namely France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE were down 0.7-1%. Asian markets too were down 0.5-1% at close.

Fall in oil prices could be impacting oil companies like Reliance Industries, Cairn India and ONGC, which fell 1-2%. Brent crude declined 1.8% to USD 119.42 a barrel and NYMEX crude was trading at USD 92.72 a barrel, down 2.4%. However, Jet Airways rallied 2%. BPCL and GAIL gained 0.7% each.

Technology stocks have been witnessing selling pressure since yesterday - TCS was the leading dragger today as well, with falling nearly 3%. Infosys, Wipro and HCL Tech slipped 1-2%.

Sun Pharma and Hindalco were the major losers on Nifty, with declining about 3%. HDFC, ITC, L&T, Maruti, M&M and Cipla too were down.

However, Bharti Airtel and Tata Steel were the top gainers, with gaining 2.7% each. NTPC, SBI, HUL, HDFC Bank, Reliance Infrastructure, Tata Power, ICICI Bank and Reliance Communications too were on buyers' radar.

Market breadth was in favour of declines - about 349 shares advanced as against 936 shares declined on National Stock Exchange.

Total traded turnover reported by market was more than Rs 81,000 crore so far.

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Nifty trades weak; IT, oil & gas, pharma down

It seems that bears are taking charge of Indian equity markets. Traders are looking uncomfortable after Nifty broke psychologically important mark 5400. It is drifting towards 5350 with selling in IT, oil & gas, pharma, realty and capital goods stocks.

The global cues added to the woes with Asian and European markets trading lower.

Heavyweights like Reliance, Infosys, ICICI Bank, L&T, TCS, ONGC and HDFC were laggards to the bourses.

Broader indices were also trading weak both midcap and small indices were down half a percent each.

At 13.13 hrs IST, the Sensex was down 99.17 points or 0.55% at 17886.71, and the Nifty was down 29.20 points or 0.54% at 5367.55.

About 967 shares advanced, 1734 shares declined, and 950 shares are unchanged.

The Nifty has been through a tough week. Inflation is still heavy and RBI