The markets remained subdued in afternoon trade even as the government tabled the Economic Survey for 2008-09. The benchmark Sensex was down 66 points at 14,579 levels and the Nifty slipped 17 points to 4,323 levels. The Economic Survey for 2008-09 prescribed doing away with cess, surcharges on taxes, including Fringe Benefit Tax, and sweeping reforms in areas like petrol pricing and financial sector. While metals, oil & gas and pharma stocks gained, IT, auto and capital goods stocks were under pressure. The metal index on the BSE gained 1.5 per cent and the oil & gas index rose 0.4 per cent.
On the other hand, the BSE auto index slumped 1.2 per cent and the BSE capital goods index fell 0.9 per cent.
Among the Sensex stocks, BHEL led the losers. The stock fell 2.3 per cent. Bharti Airtel, RCom and Tata Motors were the other main losers in the pack, down more than 1.8 per cent each.
However, ONCG extended gains in afternoon trade. The stock jumped 6.5 per cent.