Sensex down 140 points; Realty, capital goods stocks decline sharply

Jaiprakash Associates, down 5.3% at Rs 54.80, remains the most prominent loser in the Sensex. Jindal Steel, Hero Motocorp, Tata Steel, Hindalco, NTPC and Larsen & Toubro are down 3% - 4%.

Tata Motors, Wipro, Reliance Industries, BHEL, State Bank of India, Bharti Airtel, Coal India and Sterlite Industries are trading lower by 1.75% - 2.75%. DLF, Bajaj Auto, Mahindra & Mahindra, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Tata Power, Maruti Suzuki and ICICI Bank are also trading notably lower.

Among non-Sensex metal stocks, JSW Steel and NMDC are down more than 4% and Sesa Goa is down with a loss of 3.2%.

Unitech, down 7.3%, is the biggest loser in the Realty index. Prestige Estates has lost around 4.8%. HDIL and Phoenix Mills are trading lower by about 3.5%. Sobha Developers, DB Realty, Sunteck Realty and Oberoi Realty are also down with sharp losses.

Punj Lloyd, BGR Energy, Crompton Greaves, Alstom Projects, Praj Industries, Havells India, Suzlon Energy, Bharat Electronics, Thermax and Pipavav Defence are the major losers in the Capital Goods index, besides heavyweights Larsen & Toubro and BHEL. These stocks are currently trailing their previous closing levels by 1% - 3.5%.

Mahindra Satyam Satyam and Tech Mahindra are reportedly close to appointing merchant bankers and accounting firms to value the two businesses for an eventual merger. Once the two companies are merged, the entity will become the sixth biggest software services exporter after TCS, Infosys, Cognizant, Wipro and HCL Technologies. Mahindra Satyam shares are trading at Rs 65.85, up 2.7% over last week's closing price, while Tech Mahindra is up marginally at Rs 571.

Unity Infraprojects has bagged orders aggregating to Rs 139.29 crore from NHAI and ECGC of India. The stock is up 4.8% at Rs 28.50 at present.

Muthoot Finance plans to raise Rs 600 crore though public bond sale as funding from banks get expensive after the central bank scratched out lenders against gold from the subsidised priority sector lenders' list. The Muthoot Finance stock is down nearly a percent at Rs 154.60.

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Kingfisher Airlines has not deposited with the government most of the income tax it deducted from its employees' salaries for the last two fiscal years, according to government sources. Kingfisher has about Rs 130 crore tax deducted at source to be deposited with the government and has committed to pay it by the end of the current financial year to March 2012, junior finance minister SS Palanimanickam told parliament in a written reply to a question. The Kingfisher Airlines stock is currently trading at Rs 21.40, down 1.8% from its previous closing price.

In the currency market, the rupee declined against the dollar this morning as sentiments turned bearish amid fears of political tension in Asia following the death of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il. The partially convertible rupee was trading at 53.05 per dollar a little while ago, down 0.17 paise against previous close of 52.88.