Domestic bourses continued to trade lower during the noon trading session as foreign fund outflows and a muted start to the quarterly earnings season dented investors' sentiment.
Analysts said sentiment among banking stocks is especially cautious in response to Axis Bank's latest financial results, which fell short of market expectations.
At 14:30 hours, the 30-share benchmark index was trading at 81807.18 down by -452.06 points or by -0.55 % and then NSE Nifty was at 24967.4 down by -144.05 points or by -0.57 %.
Sensex touched intraday high of 82334.75 and intraday low of 81608.13 The NSE Nifty touched intraday high of 25144.6 and intraday low of 24918.65
The top gainers of the BSE Sensex pack were Bajaj Finance Ltd. (Rs. 940.35,+1.78%), Tata Steel Ltd. (Rs. 161.95,+1.31%), Nestle India Ltd. (Rs. 2468.45,+0.80%), Bajaj Finserv Ltd. (Rs. 2038.05,+0.56%), IndusInd Bank Ltd. (Rs. 869.10,+0.50%), among others.
The top losers of the BSE Sensex pack were Axis Bank Ltd. (Rs. 1102.10,-4.98%), Bharti Airtel Ltd. (Rs. 1902.95,-1.40%), Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. (Rs. 2143.55,-1.31%), Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (Rs. 1545.25,-1.17%), HDFC Bank Ltd. (Rs. 1966.45,-1.01%), among others.
Metal index was at 31409.88 up by 85.18 points or by 0.27%. NMDC Ltd. (Rs. 71.24,+2.43%), Tata Steel Ltd. (Rs. 161.95,+1.31%), Steel Authority of India (SAIL) Ltd. (Rs. 135.05,+1.09%), Jindal Steel & Power Ltd. (Rs. 960.00,+1.08%), Coal India Ltd. (Rs. 387.85,+0.51%),.
Bankex index was at 62829.97 down by -756.84 points or by -1.19%. Axis Bank Ltd. (Rs. 1102.10,-4.98%), Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. (Rs. 2143.55,-1.31%), HDFC Bank Ltd. (Rs. 1966.45,-1.01%), Canara Bank (Rs. 114.65,-0.74%), Bank of Baroda (Rs. 244.80,-0.65%),.
The Market breadth, indicating the overall strength of the market, was weak. On BSE out of total shares traded 4320 , shares advanced were 1650 while 2482 shares declined and 188 were unchanged.