Sensex down 256 points as selling continues

The Sensex, which went down by over 300 points to 16,929.39 about half an hour ago, has staged a mild recovery thanks to some modest buying at lower levels in a few front line stocks, but is still deep down in negative territory at present.

At 16,977.50, the Sensex is now down 256.48 points or 1.5% from its previous closing mark. The Nifty is down with a loss of 82.95 points or 1.6% at 5121.75, a few points off the day's low of 5109.30.

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In the currency market, the rupee weakened against the US dollar on back of weak domestic stock markets. The partially convertible Indian currency was trading at 49.52 per dollar around noon, down 22 paise against its previous close of 49.30.

Concerns about global economic growth due to a slower than expected GDP growth in the U.S., and lingering worries about the financial situation in Europe appear to be prompting investors to take some profits after a series of rallies over the last few weeks.

Capital goods stocks are among the most prominent losers today. Mirroring sharp losses posted by front line stocks, including BHEL (down 8.6%) and Larsen & Toubro (down 2.8%), the BSE Capital Goods index has tumbled almost 3.5% now. BHEL has plunged due to a significant fall in order inflow.

AIA Engineering, Alstom Projects, Crompton Greaves, Punj Lloyd, Praj Industries, Suzlon Energy and Thermax are down 2.5% - 5% now.

Sadbhav Engineering reported net profit of Rs 41.71 crore for quarter ended December 2011 as compared to net profit of Rs 26.38 crore in the same quarter previous year. Total income was at Rs 723.73 crore as against Rs 476.22 crore in the same period last fiscal. The stock is up 2% at Rs 130.50 at present.

Adani Power, GVK Power, Suzlon Energy, Siemens, Thermax and Tata Power are among the major losers in the power index. ABB, GVK Power, Lanco Infratech, Reliance Power and JSW Energy are up in positive territory with strong gains.

KSK Energy reported consolidated net profit of Rs 75.5 crore for quarter ended December 2011 as compared to Rs 8.5 crore in the same period last fiscal. Total income rose to Rs 569.6 crore as against Rs 255.3 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago. The stock is up 5% at Rs 57 at present.

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Among the stocks from the Bankex, heavyweights ICICI Bank (down 3.2%), State Bank of India (down 0.9%) and HDFC Bank (down 0.9%) are trading notably lower. Axis Bank, Bank of India, Federal Bank, IndusInd Bank and Yes Bank are down 2% - 3% now. Canara Bank and Kotak Bank are also down with notable losses.

Among the stocks in the Realty index, Prestige Estates, Anant Raj Industries, DLF, HDIL, Godrej Properties, Parsvnath Developers and Unitech are trading notably lower, while Phoenix Mills, DB Realty and Sobha Developers are up in positive territory with smart gains.