Lacklustre markets end in red

Markets ended a lacklustre day in the negative zone on cues from global markets.

The Sensex opened at 17,875 and touched a high of 17,979. However, with weakness in realty stocks, the index dropped 120 points from the high to touch the day's low of 17,859. The Sensex finally ended at 17,909 - down 29 points.

Nifty ended at 5,378 - down seven points.

Annual food inflation inched up to 12.81 per cent for the week ended July 3, while fuel inflation shot up to 14.27 per cent, reflecting the hike in oil prices. This also dampened spirits among investors.

Among global markets, Asia ended in red. The Shanghai Composite slumped 1.8% to 2,424. Hang Seng and Nikkei were down over 1% each.

BSE consumer durables index jumped 1% to 5,171, followed by FMCG, IT and auto indices. However, the PSU, oil and realty sectors showed weakness.

Reliance Communications shed 1.5% at Rs 184. ONGC and HDFC slipped over 1% each to Rs 1,242 and Rs 3,043, respcetively.

Banking stocks were in red. HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and SBI were down 1% each. Bharti Airtel, BHEL and Sterlite dropped 1% each to Rs 298, Rs 2,438 and Rs 166, respectively.

However, Hindustan Unilever gained 2% at Rs 263. Tata Motors added 1% to Rs 808.

TCS was up 1% at Rs 783 ahead of its results.  Wipro added 1% to Rs 402. Infosys ended flat at Rs 2,758.

Tata Steel, Reliance Infrastructure and ACC were up marginally in trades today.

BSE market breadth was negative. Out of 3,020 stocks traded, 1,540 declined while 1,360 advanced.

VALUE TOPPERS...

Tata Steel topped the value chart on the BSE with a turnover of Rs 100.86 cr, followed by LIC Housing Finance (Rs 96.64 cr), Dr Reddy's Labs (Rs 87.41 cr), HPCL (Rs 81.18 cr) and Reliance Capital (Rs 77.57 cr).