NEW DELHI: The BSE Smallcap index was trading 2.16 per cent down at 16,265 around 11:05 am on Tuesday.
The BSE Sensex was 0.42 per cent down at 34,865 and Nifty50 was 0.52 per cent down at 10,573 around the same time.Fiberweb (India) (down 19.97 per cent) and Thirumalai Chemicals (down 15.68 per cent) were the top losers in the smallcap index.Ujaas Energy, Shree Pushkar Chemicals Fertilisers, Avanti Feeds, Surya Roshni, Fedders Electric and Engineering and KEI Industries plunged up to 13 per cent in the smallcap index.However, Sakthi Sugars (up 5.67 per cent), Madhucon Projects (up 5.14 per cent), Electrosteel Steels (up 4.63 per cent), S P Apparels (up 3.67 per cent) and Balrampur Chini Mills (up 3.43 per cent) were among the top gainers in the index around the same time.Equity markets were in the negative zone on selling across sectors.Investors were holding their bets as the RBI's Monetary Policy Committee began its three-day meeting yesterday amid speculation that it may hike the key interest rate for the first time in over four years on account of firming inflation.
Among the 50 stocks in the Nifty index, 9 were trading in the green, while 41 were in the red.
In the Sensex kitty, 8 stocks were up, while 23 were down.
Power Grid and Bharti Airtel declined nearly 3 per cent in the Sensex index.