Indian benchmarks continued to trade in negative terrain lower by 185 points during the late morning deals. The mood remains cautious with investors awaiting key inflation data from the U.S. for more clarity about the outlook for interest rates.
On the corporate front, ULtraTech Cement is gaining 1.65%. Mahindra & Mahindra, Sun Pharmaceuticals and Wipro are up 1 to 1.3%. Titan, JSW Steel, Bharti Airtel, Axis Bank and Hind Unilever are advancing 0.5 to 0.8%.
Meanwhile, Tata Motors is down by about 1.6%. ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank, Asian Paints, Reliance Industries and Tata Consultancy Services are down 0.4 to 1%.
At 11:39 hours, the 30-share benchmark index was trading at 66717.34 down by -184.57 points or by -0.28 % and then NSE Nifty was at 20067.7 down by -28.9 points or by -0.14 %.
In the volatile trade so-far, Sensex touched intraday high of 67020.11 and intraday low of 66610.35 The NSE Nifty touched intraday high of 20136.15 and intraday low of 20015.85.
UltraTech Cement Ltd. (Rs. 8893.60,+1.91%), Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (Rs. 1645.80,+1.66%), Titan Company Ltd. (Rs. 3450.00,+0.66%), JSW Steel Ltd. (Rs. 798.00,+0.62%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Rs. 1208.30,+0.62%) were among the gainers.
Whereas Tata Motors Ltd. (Rs. 701.20,-1.54%), HDFC Bank Ltd. (Rs. 1543.00,-1.04%), ICICI Bank Ltd. (Rs. 930.00,-1.00%), Reliance Industries Ltd. (Rs. 2385.00,-0.65%), IndusInd Bank Ltd. (Rs. 1475.25,-0.59%), were among the losers on the BSE.
Among the sectors, Oil & Gas index was at 20457.72 up by 133.49 points or by 0.66%. GAIL (India) Ltd. (Rs. 132.15,+4.92%), Oil And Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (Rs. 194.85,+1.46%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (Rs. 432.50,+0.85%), Petronet LNG Ltd. (Rs. 200.45,+0.63%), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (Rs. 343.80,+0.32%),.
On the flip side, Bankex index was at 50130.86 down by -190.26 points or by -0.38%. Federal Bank Ltd. (Rs. 148.55,-1.10%), HDFC Bank Ltd. (Rs. 1544.30,-0.96%), ICICI Bank Ltd. (Rs. 930.75,-0.92%), IndusInd Bank Ltd. (Rs. 1475.40,-0.58%), Au Small Finance Bank Ltd. (Rs. 745.40,-0.47%),.
The Market breadth, indicating the overall strength of the market, was weak. On BSE out of total shares traded 3866 , shares advanced were 1885 while 1780 shares declined and 201 were unchanged.