Indices Drifted to Settle Lower

Key indices drifted in and out of the positive terrain today to settle lower. The frontline indices ended in red but the broader markets continued to outperform closing in green.

Sector wise, metals posted modest gains whereas the banking pack was a laggard. Selling Pressure was also seen in power and oil stocks. Select realty and metal stocks were attracting buying interest.

Asian markets paused today after some good sessions of trade, and ended mixed.The Sensex closed down 130.66 points or 0.81% at 16086.83, and the Nifty down 48.65 points or 1.00% at 4828.85.

Biggest index losers were ICICI Bank (down 4.54%), Hindustan Unilever (4.37%), Bharti Airtel (4.24%), BHEL (3.51%) and Jaiprakash Associates (3.47%). Major gainers comprised Tata Steel (up 3.79%), HDFC (3.48%), ITC (2.09%), Infosys Technologies (0.49%) and Satyam Computer (0.47%). Across BSE, around 1837 shares advanced against 1,159 declines, while on NSE, there were 804 gainers and 430 losers.


Market Snapshot

• Sensex, Nifty end in the red amid volatile day of trade

• Small-cap Index outperforms all other major indices

• Sensex ends down 131 pts at 16087; Nifty down 48 pts at 4829

• CNX Midcap Index up 0.745, BSE Small-cap Index up 2.12%

• Index Gainers; Tata Steel up 3.4%, Idea up 3.3%, HDFC up 2.9%

• Index Losers; Nalco down 5.5%, HUL, ICICI Bank down 4%, Bharti down 3.6%

• Realty & IT stocks gain the most

• Realty stocks: Purvanakara up 22%, Orbit up 20%, IBREL up 10%

• Midcap IT: KPIT Cummins up 22%, Mastek up 14.5%, Firstsource up 10.5%

• Other gainers; Guj NRE Coke up 10.8%, Yes Bank up 13%, GHCL up 13%, India Infoline up 9.2%

• NSE Advance Decline at 2:1