By IANS,
Mumbai : Indian equities markets continued to be south-bound a little before noon Monday, with a key index was ruling 3.23 percent below its last closing figure. Other Asian bourses too were ruling in the red.
The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) sensitive index (Sensex), which opened at 9,902.35 points, stood at 9,723.75 points, 3.23 percent or 324.74 points below its previous close at 10,048.49 points Friday.
The S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was at 3,014.25 points, 3.04 percent down from its last close of 3,108.65.
The BSE midcap index was ruling 0.63 percent lower than its previous close, while the BSE smallcap index was marginally down 0.16 percent.
Of the 13 sectoral indices on the BSE, the index for consumer durables stocks was in the positive terrain, while banking, realty and metal stocks saw heavy selling.
There were only two gainers on the Sensex around this time: Sun Pharma, up 1.47 percent at Rs.1,095.40; and NTPC, up 0.93 percent at Rs.183.75.
Among the losers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank, down 7.09 percent at Rs.357.90; Jaiprakash Associates, down 6.31 percent at Rs.83.90; Tata Steel, down 5.59 percent at Rs.211, and Sterlite, down 5.44 percent at Rs.353.60.
In other Asian markets, Tokyo stocks were ruling in the red towards closing bell Monday with Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average at 8,236.08 points, 390.89 points lower than its previous close, as domestic automobile production plunged 56.2 percent year-on-year to 481,396 units in February.
This is the fifth straight month of decline, according to data released Monday by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association.
The Hang Seng, a key index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, was also down 3.03 percent at 13,691.99 points.