Sensex remains in choppy waters down by 193 points

Mumbai: In a choppy trade, the benchmark BSE Sensex plummeted by over 193 points to quote at 27,059.67 in late-morning deals following selling at IT, tech, banking, pharma and capital goods counters. Sustained capital outflows took hold amid no major direction from Asian markets as they were trading mixed, tracking the Wall Street on May 14. Infosys, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC, TCS and Tata Motors were the laggards and weighed on the market.

The BSE 30-share barometer resumed slightly better, but immediately dropped to a low of 26,948.62, down over 302 points, or 1.11 per cent, over its previous close. It later attempted recovery, but failed and was quoted at 27,059.67 at 1045 hours, a fall of 193.43 points, or 0.70 per cent. On May 13, it jumped 373.62 points, or 1.39 per cent. In a similar way, the 50-issue CNX Nifty of NSE was trading down by 53.05 points, or 0.64 per cent, at 8,182.40 at 1045 hours.

Previously, it advanced 108.50 points, or 1.34 per cent. Brokers said profit booking by participants in stocks that recorded handsome gains in yesterday's trade and a mixed trend at other Asian markets tracking overnight losses at US markets following a disappointing retail sales report dampened mood. From Asia, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan were trading weak while from China, Hong Kong and South Korea were quoting better in their late-morning deals.

Second-line stocks attracted solid buying interest from retail investors as their indices, BSE-Midcap and BSE-Smallcap, were trading higher by over 0.6 per cent each and outperformed the Sensex. The market is now looking for the announcement of inflation data based on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for April and the outcome of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 3-nation official visit to China, Mongolia, and Republic of South Korea, which begins on May 14.