Stock markets at mid-session: Sensex plunges over 200 points, Nifty below 17,300

The equities benchmark indices were trading weak at noon trade. Sensex was down over 200 points down in the afternoon session on Wednesday dragged by heavy selling pressure in telecom, banking, and auto stocks.

At 1.18 PM, the Sensex was down 0.37 percent or 217.13 points down to 57,772.17. The broader Nifty50 was down 0.36 percent or 62.70 points to 17,252.80.

Among sectors, auto, bank, metal and capital goods indices are trading in the red, while pharma and power indices up 1 percent each.

Sahaj Agrawal, Head of Research- Derivatives at Kotak Securities, said, “Nifty witnessed strong recovery in recent times. Currently we see strong resistance at 17,650 levels for the Nifty50; failure to cross the same can invite selling pressure. For the short term expect range bound movement at 17,000-17,500. Fmcg, IT remain in momentum while the high beta space is expected to remain volatile.”

The markets witnessed volatile trading. The Sensex opened in the positive at 58,198.64 points and surged to a high of 58,416.56 points in the early morning trade. The index slipped into negative at around noon. It dipped to a low of 57,621.42 points. The Sensex had gained 696.81 points or 1.22 per cent on Tuesday.

The broader Nifty 50 of the National Stock Exchange was trading 85.70 points or 0.49 per cent down at 17,229.80 points from its previous day's close at 17,315.50 points. The Nifty had lost 197.90 points or 1.16 per cent on Tuesday. Bharti Airtel dipped 2.18 per cent to Rs 703.60. HDFC slumped 1.69 per cent to Rs 2362.10. Kotak Bank dipped 1.64 per cent to Rs 1779.

There was heavy selling pressure in auto stocks. Mahindra & Mahindra slipped 1.36 per cent to Rs 773.95. Maruti Suzuki fell 1.20 per cent to Rs 7670.60. Dr Reddy's Laboratories surged 3.63 per cent to Rs 4178.35. ITC surged 1.16 per cent to Rs 252.70. IndusInd Bank, Reliance Industries, UltraTech Cement and Tata Steel were among the major Sensex gainers.

The 30 stock S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 57,630.42 points at 12.43 pm, which is 358.88 points or 0.62 per cent down from its previous day's close at 57,989.30 points.