Normally, stocks like ITC in particular have shown fair amount of resilience and if these stocks fall, chances are the markets are heading for capitulation. ITC fell almost 4 per cent on Wednesday, something almost unheard of in recent times.

It's important to remember that if ITC falls, chances are the markets would fall, as the stock has the highest weightage in the Nifty and the Sensex.

Along with these stocks, like HDFC and HDFC Bank often categorised amongst the bellweather stocks have been falling. Both these stocks have a large proportion of FII holding and investors worry that if FIIs continue to press sales, HDFC and HDFC Bank could be headed lower.

Already, on Wednesday FIIs net sold to the tune of Rs 792 crores in the cash markets and Rs 1500 crores on Tuesday, again in the cash market.

Pharma along with FMCG have generated maximum returns for investors in the last 1 year. However, stocks like Lupin, Sun Pharma, Cipla and Ranbaxy have come crashing down.

Clearly, at the moment it seems there are no bellweather stocks and that is not a good sign. Looking at how the last line of defense has collapsed, markets are clearly headed lower.

GoodReturns.in