The BSE benchmark Sensex slipped over 100 points in the noon deals on the back of sustained selling pressure visible across the sectors.
The 50-share Nifty was trading below its important psychological level of 8,650 on the back of selling in heavyweight stocks like HDFC, ICICI Bank, reliance Industries and ITC.
Meanwhile, on the macro-economic front, the wholesale inflation for the month of February fell for the fourth straight month. Wholesale inflation in February eased to -2.06 per cent against -0.39 per cent in January on the back of falling global oil prices, government data showed on Monday. Fuel prices during the month cooled to -14.72 per cent against -10.79 in January.
Selling pressure was visible across the sectors. Metal, power and oil & gas stocks were amongst the worst hit. The BSE metal index fell 1.3 per cent and the power index was down 1.2 per cent.
The aviation shares were flying high on reports that the government would abolish 5/20 rule which acts as a deterrent for the private airlines to fly internationally.
The rule states that for the airline to operate international flights it needs to have at least five years of domestic operations with a fleet of 20 aircrafts.
From the Nifty basket, Cairn India was the top loser. The stock fell 4.5 per cent to Rs 180 triggered by Rs 20,495 crore tax demand slapped in relation to the 2007 listing of the company.
Sesa Sterlite, NMDC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, NTPC, Reliance Industries, Hindalco, Bharti Airtel and Cipla were also among the losers. On the other hand, DLF surged for the second day in a row, up 4.3 per cent at Rs 164. Asian Paints, Infosys, Zee Entertainment and HCL Technologies were also among the notable gainers.
At 12:50 p.m., the Sensex was down 102 points at 28,401 and the Nifty slipped 30 points to 8,617.
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