Sensex slides 245 points; below 14000

After a brief attempt at recovering part of the morning losses, frontline Indian indexes have slipped again. The 3 per cent each decline in index heavyweights ONGC and Reliance Industries is largely responsible for the fall. Metal stocks also remain weak. Most other Asian markets remain weak while Europe has opened lower.

Sensex is trading lower by 245 points at 13984 at 01.10 PM IST.

Nifty is now trading lower by 74 points at 4104.

Reliance Industries is now down nearly 3 per cent. ONGC has also lost close to 3 per cent.

Cipla has slipped further, following weak results, and remains the worst performing Nifty stock with losses of nearly 15 per cent. Sun Pharma has lost nearly 3 per cent.

Among metals, Sterlite is down 3.5 per cent while Tata Steel has lost nearly 3 per cent.

Suzlon Energy is trading 3.5 per cent lower.

ICICI Bank remains weak by over 2.5 per cent.

Tata Power and Zee Entertainment are the other major losers among Nifty components.

Satyam has picked up strength after a firm start and is now trading more than 2 per cent higher. HCL Tech has gained a per cent while Wipro has added 0.5 per cent.

Among autos, Maruti is trading close to 1.5 per cent higher while M&M and Bajaj Auto have added over a per cent each.

Siemens is the best performer among Nifty stocks, with gains of nearly 2.5 per cent. ABB has added close to a per cent.

BPCL and VSNL are the other major gainers.

Mid-caps and small caps remain weak, but continue to do better than large caps. The NSE mid-cap index is now trading with losses of nearly 0.45 per cent. BSE mid-cap index has lost 0.55 per cent and the BSE small-cap index is trading 0.75 per cent lower.

Among larger mid-caps, Mico is holding on to gains of 12 per cent.

Asian Electronics and Visa Steel are locked in 10 per cent upper circuits.

Archies, Cholamadalam DBS, Bilt, Rallis India, GVK Power, Deccan Chronicle, and Indo-Tech Transformers are the other major gainers among mid-caps and small caps.

Rei Agro remains locked in 20 per cent down circuit while GHCL, Genus Overseas and Pyramid Saimira are in 10 per cent down circuits.

Indian Bank has corrected nearly 8 per cent after the recent rally.

Vimta Labs, Lakshmi Energy and Foods, JBM Auto and Cambridge Technologies are the major losers among mid-caps and small-caps.

Thomas White Global Research, part of the Thomas White International Group, publishes capital market research for global institutions and investment banks, and is headed by Thomas White, a former managing director of Morgan Stanley Asset Management.

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