Image Source: MONEY CONTROL

Agencies

Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty slipped into the negative zone in opening deals on Thursday, weighed down by disappointing macroeconomic data.

The BSE gauge Sensex was trading lower by 51.28 points or 0.12 percent at 41,514.62 in early trade; while the NSE barometer Nifty was down 16.55 points or 0.14 percent at 12,184.65. Both key indices were in the red primarily due to the emergence of selling in financial and auto stocks. Hurting market sentiment, government data on Wednesday showed that industrial output contracted by 0.3 percent in December while retail inflation jumped to a 68-month high of 7.59 percent in January on high food prices.