Markets Trade Lower, Banking Shares Fall

Benchmark indices opened the day marginally lower as investors looked to book profits at higher levels. Asian markets were trading flat with a slightly negative bias. The Sensex was trading with losses of 54 points, while the Nifty lost 18 points in trade.

Shares in IT Major Infosys was flat even after the company said that it has started an internal probe after SEBI has banned 8 entities including individuals from stock market trading on involvement in insider trading activities.

Shares in Tata Motors dropped 0.50% after passenger vehicle major for the May month posted a sales volume decline of 38 percent logging sale of 24,552 units in comparison to 39,530 vehicles in April.

Banking shares were a little subdued with stocks like IndusInd Bank, State Bank of India and ICICI Bank all among the losers in early trade. Reliance Industries, which has witnessed a stellar rally in the last few days continued to gain momentum. The stock was up 0.42% in early trade.

Shares in ITC were down 2.5%, after the cigarette to hotel major reported a decline in net profits year on year at Rs. 3748.4 crore for the Q4 period as against Rs. 3797 crore in the same quarter of last year. The company has declared an interim dividend of Rs 5.75.