Sensex down 88 points, looks headed for weak close

Amid fears that the Greek government could reject its bailout deal with international lenders, most of the markets in the Asian region drifted lower today, with the Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 plunging to a three-month closing low.

European markets too are exhibiting weakness now. The mood back home is bearish as well. After seeing some bright spells amid selective buying at a few front line counters, the Indian market has slipped a bit deeper into the red now due to heavy selling in bank, realty, metal and power stocks.

Several stocks from PSU, oil and automobile sectors too are down in the red with notable losses. Capital goods stocks, which managed to garner some support earlier in the day, are drifting lower now. FMCG stocks trade firm, while pharma and information technology are trading mixed.

The BSE benchmark Sensex, which drifted down to 16,422.93, is down 88.12 points or 0.53% at 16,458.06 now. The Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange is down with a loss of 30.50 points or 0.61% at 4969.45.

DLF has lost 4.3% at Rs 181.85. State Bank of India, NTPC and Jindal Steel are trading lower by 3% - 3.5%. Tata Steel, Sterlite Industries, Coal India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors and Reliance Industries are down 2% - 2.8%.

ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, Cipla, Hero Motocorp, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Power and HDFC are also trading notably lower. Larsen & Toubro and ONGC too are down in negative territory with notable losses.

ITC is trading firm with a strong gain of 4.8% following a rating upgrade of the stock. Tata Consultancy Services (1.75%) and Hindalco (1.2%) are also up with impressive gains. Hindustan Unilever, Wipro, Bajaj Auto, Sun Pharmaceuticals and GAIL India are up with modest gains.

Ranbaxy Laboratories rose to Rs 517 after the company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 1246.7 crore for the quarter ended March 2012 compared to Rs 304.3 crore in the same quarter a year ago. Net sales for the quarter rose to Rs 3695.4 crore for the quarter against Rs 2141.4 crore in the corresponding quarter previous year. The stock, despite trading off that high, is up in positive territory with a gain of 2.8% at Rs 507 at present.

ABB is down more than 3.5% at Rs 731 after the company reported a standalone net profit of Rs 47.64 crore for the quarter ended March 2012 compared to Rs 59.55 crore in the same quarter a year ago. Total income stood at Rs 1790.31 crore for the quarter from Rs 1796 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.

Manappuram Finance is down by over 13%. HDIL, GMR Infrastructure, Hexaware Technologies, Jaiprakash Associates, Andhra Bank, United Spirits, Aurobindo Pharma, Bank of India, Suzlon Energy, Canara Bank, JSW Steel, Essar Oil, Kotak Bank, Union Bank of India and Chambal Fertilizers & Chemicals are down 4% - 7%.