Broader markets down over 1%; Nifty struggles at 7,600

Markets have marginally come off morning lows with the Sensex down 158 points at 25,421 and the Nifty gave off 55 points to trade at 7,599.

Sell-off was visible in the broader markets as well with both the mid and small cap indices down over 1% each, taking a breather after several weeks of outperformance.

After a brief opening tick in the green, benchmark indices slipped into the negative territory. Weakness in heavyweights like HDFC, ONGC, Axis Bank and L&T weighed on the indices in opening deals.

At 0950 hrs, the Sensex was down 180 points at 25,399 and the Nifty dipped 60 points at 7,593.

In the broader markets, the smallcap index was up 0.3% and the midcap index was marginally in red in opening deals.

Consumer Durables, IT, Teck and Health Care were the only indices in green, up 0.3-1.4%.

Meanwhile, Realty, Capital Goods, Power, Oil & Gas and Metal indices dipped 1-3%.

Sun Pharma and Bharti Airtel up 2% each were the leading gainers among Sensex-30.

Wipro, Maruti Suzuki, Infosys, Cipla, TCS and Dr Reddys Lab up 0.5-1.7% were the only other names in the gainers list.

Some of the notable losers in opening deals were Tata power, BHEL, ONGC, Hindalco, RIL, L&T and Hero MotoCorp down 1.5-3%.

In other stocks, Suzlon Energy was locked in upper circuit for fifth straight trading sessions, up 5% at Rs 34.35.

The market breadth was negative on BSE. 1,019 stocks declined while 870 stocks advanced.

HDFC Bank

Axis Bank

Larsen & Toubro Limited