Market slips on weak global indices

Weak international market trend weighed on domestic indices. The Sensex dropped 259 points during intra-day trades and nearly slipped below 17,081 on relentless selling pressure. Even as oil prices in the global markets preceded from their recent highs, investors across the globe tracked concerns of inflationary pressures in the US and hence dumped their respective indices. After resuming 126 points lower at 17,213, the Sensex languished in negative in the first half and plunged deep in red in noon trades to touch the day's low of 17,038 on selling in Bankex, IT and FMCG select heavyweights. The Sensex finally ended the session with losses of 259 points at 17,081, while the Nifty tumbled 54 points to close at 5,082.
,br> The market breadth was weak. Of the 2,746 stocks traded on the BSE, 1,593 stocks declined, 1,102 stocks advanced and 51 stocks ended unchanged. Other than BSE Metal index, rest of the sectoral indices lost ground. BSE Bankex index dropped 2.90% at 8,755, BSE IT index shed 2.69% at 4,294 and BSE FMCG index was down 2.60% at 2,445.
,br> Bankex stocks came under sharp hammering. KMFL shed 6.41% at Rs782.40, BoB fell 5.51% at Rs300.05, Axis Bank declined 4.83% at Rs863.35 and Bank of India was down nearly 4.38% at Rs324. Among the other Sensex losers, ITC dipped 5.24% at Rs215.05, Satyam Computer Services slipped 3.72% at Rs471.10, Infosys dropped 3.44% at Rs1,779.80, L&T slumped 3.36% at Rs2,886 and ICICI Bank shed 3% at Rs891.30. Tata Steel, however, rose 2.51% at Rs845.65, Bharti Airtel advanced 1.45% at Rs827.60 and ACC moved up 0.82% at Rs743.25.
,br> IT stocks witnessed selling pressure. Mphasis declined 3.96% at Rs219.65, TCS lost 2.33% at Rs943.70, Tech Mahindra shed 2.11% at Rs932.15 and I-Flex slipped by 2.10%% at Rs1,316.55.
,br> Over 7.71 crore Aishwarya Tele shares changed hands on the BSE followed by IFCI (1.42 crore shares), Ispat Industries (1.14 crore shares), Kasyap (87.10 lakh shares) and RNRL (83.40 lakh shares).