The 30-share index, BSE Sensex, fell further into the negative terrain on account of heavy profit booking witnessed across real estate, banking and oil & gas stocks.

However, IT and teck stocks remained in buyers interest.

The BSE Midcap index lost 0.23%, while the BSE Smallcap index was down by 0.14%.

The Sensex, today, belled the day after registering a small gain of 3.72 points at 17,036.23 as against its last day’s closure in which it gained 183.68 points.

At 11.59 a.m., Sensex stood at 16,947.35, down 85.16 points, after hitting a high of 17,080.17 and a low of 16,931.01. In the meantime, Nifty lost 31.55 points to trade at 5,026.50. It hit a high of 5,074.00 and a low of 5,023.50.

According to Angel Broking, “Trend deciding level for the day is 5042 / 17003. If Nifty trades above this level during the first half-an-hour of trade then we may witness a further rally up to 5090 – 5121 / 17113 - 17193. However, if Nifty trades below 5042 / 17003 for the first half-an-hour of trade then it may correct up to 5010 / 16923.”

Among the sectoral indices, BSE IT surged 1.57%, TECk zoomed 0.98%, Metal climbed 0.21%, whereas BSE Realty descended 2.11%, Bankex dipped 1.27%, Oil & Gas fell 0.85%, PSU slumped 0.66% and FMCG declined 0.57%.

The top gainers in the Sensex pack included Hero Honda, Rel Cap, TCS, Infosys, Wipro and Hindalco.

The major losers in the Sensex were SBI, ONGC, Tata Motors, Mah & Mah, DLF and ICICI Bank.

Marketmen stated that the selling activity emerged in stocks that had gained significantly in the past trading sessions even as the fundamentals of the stock markets still remained better.

They added that the existing fall could be considered as a technical adjustment and beneficial for a strong market.