Sensex tests 19K amid choppy trade; BHEL, ONGC, ITC slip

Indian equity benchmarks tested the important psychological levels in morning trade at 10:36 hours - the Nifty hit the 5700 level and the Sensex touched the 19,000-mark amid extreme volatility. The consolidation was imminent after a sharp fall in previous two sessions.

Asian markets too were down following weak US cues after the S&P put negative outlook on US debt yesterday. Shanghai lost nearly 2%. Hang Seng and Nikkei were down 1.2% each. Straits Times and Taiwan slipped nearly 1%.

Heavyweights like ONGC, ITC, NTPC, SBI, HUL and Wipro were dragging the markets down, with falling around 1%. BHEL from capital goods space lost over 2.5% and Hero Honda tanked more than 3% on the back of profit booking as it had rallied smartly in previous three sessions.

Reliance Industries, SBI and HDFC declined over 0.5%.

However, Cairn India gained over 2% after Petronas sold 11% stake in the company via block deal to Vedanta and 3.49% to institutions.

TCS, HDFC Bank, Reliance Communications, L&T, Reliance Infrastructure, HCL Tech and Infosys were other supportive stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading at 19,018, down 73 points and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 22 points to 5,707. The broader indices were marginally in the red.

In midcap space, KSK Energy Ventures, CMC, Jagran Prakashan, Pipavav and HMT gained 3-4% while Gammon Infra, Mahindra Holiday, Tube Investment, HOEC and S Kumars Nation fell 2.5-4%.

In smallcap space, Orient Green, Kirloskar Brothers, Subex, Zenith Infotech and Tuni Textile rallied 5-14%. However, BS TransComm, Hatsun Agro, IVRCL Assets, Hinduja Foundries and Hindustan Media lost 4-5%.

About 392 shares advanced as against 826 shares declined on National Stock Exchange.

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Nifty volatile after two days' sharp fall; banks up

Indian equity benchmarks started the session on a negative note amid volatility. Weak global cues, after S&P put negative outlook on US debt, weighed on the Indian markets a bit.

Markets were not falling in line with global markets as they had already fallen quite sharply in previous two days.

Among frontliners, Sesa Goa, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Wipro, DLF, GAIL, ONGC, NTPC, Maruti, Bajaj Auto, M&M and HUL were witnessing selling pressure.

However, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Reliance Communications, Reliance Capital, Reliance Power, SBI and L&T were helping the markets.

HDFC Bank gained nearly 2% after 33% jump in its fourth quarter net profit. The bank approved sub division of a share from Rs 10 to Rs 2.

At 9:18 hours IST, the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading at 19,056, down 35 points and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 9 points to 5,719.

However, the CNX Midcap gained just 2 points at 8,198 and the BSE Smallcap Index rose 17 points to 8,753. About 460 shares advanced as against 358 shares declined on National Stock Exchange.

Midcap & Smallcap space:

Kanoria Chemicals shot up another 8% after yesterday's 20% upper circuit.

JM Financial gained 2%.

Hathway Cable, IDBI Bank (ahead of numbers) and IndusInd Bank (after upgrades from brokerages) were up 1% each.

CMC rallied 3.5% after quarterly numbers.

Deccan Chronicle, HMT, NELCO and Sunflag Iron gained 2-5%.

However, Persistent systmes lost 4% after quarterly numbers.

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Global cues:

Asian markets were trading lower. Shanghai tanked 1.8%. Hang Seng and Nikkei fell 1.5%. Straits Times, Kospi and Taiwan were down 1%.

The US markets recovered from day's low despite news that S&P put a