Sensex down 123 points; Power, capital goods stocks trip

The Nifty and the Sensex were trading down over 0.5 per cent at about 1.45 p.m. on Tuesday due to profit-taking by funds and retail investors amid weak global cues.

The Nifty was trading at 6,316, down 48 points, and the Sensex at 21,203, down 123 points.

Volatility index, India Vix, was at 18.68, down 2.50 per cent.

On the BSE, power, capital goods, banking and realty sectors fell the most by 4.79 per cent, 3.15 per cent, 2.35 per cent and 1.99 per cent, respectively.

On the other hand, IT, TECk, FMCG and healthcare indices remained investors' favourite and were up 2.23 per cent, 1.59 per cent, 0.63 per cent and 0.01 per cent, respectively.

TCS, Wipro, Infosys, ITC and Hero MotoCorp were the top five Sensex gainers, while the top five losers were NTPC, BHEL, L&T, ICICI Bank and ONGC.

After closing on a euphoric high note on Monday following the outcome of the Assembly elections in four states, the markets opened on a tepid note on Tuesday on the back of profit-booking.

The Nifty opened at 6,355, down 9 points, while the Sensex opened at 21,294, down 32 points.

According to Equentis technical outlook market report, next major trigger for the market will be the outcome of US Fed meeting on stimulus and winter session of Indian Parliament.

On the macroeconomic front, the Government will release the industrial production (IIP) data for October and inflation data based on the general consumer price index (CPI) for November on December 12.

European stock-index futures and Asian equities fell after China’s industrial production trailed estimates.

According to government data, China's industrial production growth slowed last month, while retail sales unexpectedly accelerated. Investors await factory output data from France and Italy to be released today.

Investors also await the outcome of the US Federal Reserve’s FOMC meet during December 17-18. The majority view is that the US Fed will announce tapering of its $85-billion-a-month stimulus programme in view of signs that the economy is rebounding.