Sensex drifts lower on weak global cues; BHEL, Reliance Infra move up smartly

Trading got off to a weak start on the major Indian bourses this morning with investors taking some profits after the previous session's sharp upmove. The mood is slightly weak in early trades due to a moderate sell-off on Wall Street and the negative trend in Asian markets due to renewed worries about the financial crisis in Greece.

Oil, metal, bank, realty and automobile stocks are mostly trading weak. Consumer durables stocks are also down in negative territory with notable losses. Power stocks have moved up smartly. Select capital goods, information technology and FMCG stocks are also finding fairly good support.

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The Sensex, which declined to 18,112.37 in early trades, is now down 36.05 points or 0.2% at 18,166.36. The Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange is down 16.10 points or 0.29% at 5515.85, off an early low of 5501.75.

Coal India is down 3.75% at Rs 327. Sun Pharmaceuticals is trading lower by 2.8% following an announcement from the company that US-based Wyeth Pharmaceuticals has sought damages worth $960 million in an ongoing patent dispute over a generic version of Protonix drug.

Hindalco is down with a loss of 2.4%. Tata Motors, a big gainer in the previous session thanks to strong results and impressive global sales, is down by a little over 2% at Rs 281 due to profit taking. Sterlite Industries is also trading lower by a little over 2%.

Reliance Industries, DLF and ICICI Bank have lost over 1.5%. Tata Steel and Mahindra & Mahindra are trading lower by around 1%. Bajaj Auto, Maruti Suzuki, State Bank of India and ONGC are also trading notably lower.

Axis Bank, Sesa Goa, Kotak Bank, SAIL, ACC, Siemens, BPCL and Grasim Industries are trading lower by 0.4% - 1.6%.

BHEL is up with a strong gain of 3.4%. Reliance Infrastructure is up nearly 3% and Jindal Steel is trading 2.5% up. Tata Power, Cipla, NTPC, Hero Motocorp, Ranbaxy Laboratories and Bharti Airtel are trading higher by 1% - 2%. Infosys, HCL Technologies, Maruti Suzuki and Reliance Communications are also trading firm.

IndusInd Bank, Voltas, JP Power, Indiabulls Financial Services, Andhra Bank, Unitech and Allahabad Bank are down 2% - 4% on profit taking after recent strong gains.

Lanco Infratech has moved up by over 5%. Adani Power, Aditya Birla Nuvo, Essar Oil, Nalco, Adani Enterprises, IFCI, IRB Infrastructure, Ashok Leyland, NMDC, Fortis, Thermax, Amtek Auto and Gujarat Minerals are up 2.5% - 5%.

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Jet Air India has gained nearly 5% following a reduction in aviation fuel prices. Other airlines stocks Spicejet and Kingfisher Airlines are also trading in positive territory, gaining 2.5% and 3.5% respectively.