Markets this morning opened with a negative gap on weak cues from the US markets. The Sensex touched a low of 16,317 almost immediately, but managed to recover and consolidate in the first half of the day.
However, the markets turned volatile after the European bourses opened. The markets swung almost in tandem to the European markets, wherein the Sensex first recovered, then slipped only to bounce back at close. The index touched a high of 16,487 - up 300 points from the day's low. The Sensex finally ended at 16,446 - down 74 points.
The Nifty ended at 4,931 - down 16 points.
The BSE mid- and small-cap indices underperformed the broader indices. Both the indices slipped 1.5% each at 6,688 and 8,415, respectively.
All sectoral indices were in red today, barring auto and FMCG. The BSE power index slumped 1.7% to 2,921, followed by realty and capital goods.
US markets had closed in the red on Thursday. The Dow tanked 3.6% to 10,068. Nasdaq and S&P 500 tumbled 4%, each.
European markets are exhibiting high volatility. After a brief recovery, the FTSE has dropped 0.6% to 5,040. DAX is down 1% at 5,806.
NTPC slumped 4.2% to Rs 196.
Metal stocks were in red. Hindalco shed 3.2% to Rs 152. Sterlite dropped 1.6% to Rs 642. Tata Steel, however, added marginally to Rs 509.
Among cement companies - Grasim tumbled 3% while ACC advanced 1.7% to Rs 859.
Hindustan Unilever could not benefit from the FMCG sector's upmove and ended down 2.7% at Rs 231.
Tata Power and ONGC dropped 2.3% each to Rs 1,259 and Rs 1,092, respectively.
Larsen & Toubro was down 2% at Rs 1,608. Reliance Communications dropped 1.7% to Rs 133.
Wipro and TCS were down around 1.5% each. HDFC Bank, DLF and Infosys were in red. Reliance Communications slipped marginally to Rs 996.
However, ITC shone in a more-or-less volatile market. The stock jumped 3.4% to Rs 272 on announcing Q4 numbers. The company reported a 27% growth in its net profit to Rs 1,028.2 crore in the quarter ended March 31, 2010.
Mahindra & Mahindra and Maruti Suzuki were among gaining auto stocks and were up 3.3% and 2.6%, respectively.
Bharti Airtel added 2% to Rs 266. Relaty stocks - Jaiprakash Associates and Reliance Infrastructure advanced marginally in trades today.
On the Midcap index, Jain Irrigation zoomed 7% to Rs 980. It was followed by Jubilant Food, IFCI, Trent, Hindustan National Glass & Industries and Petronet LNG, up 2-6% each on the index.
On the other hand Piramal Healthcare was the major loser, slumped 12% to Rs 503 after Abbott's decision to acquire Piramal Healthcare at $2.12 billion.
Solvay Pharma and Vipul advanced 9% to Rs 2,427 and Rs 23, respectively on the smallcap index. It was followed by Falcon Tyres, Piramal Glass, JMC Projects and Network 18 Media, up 6-8%, respectively.
On the other hand CMI FPE and Suashish Diamond slumped 20% to Rs 1,403 and Rs 229, respectively.
Kalyani Steel, Selan Exploration, Ruby Mills and Hanung Toys were the other major losers on the smallcap index.
The BSE market breadth was fairly negative. Out of 2,882 stocks traded, 2,023 declined while 773 advanced.
VALUE & VOLUME TOPPERS...
Piramal Healthcare topped the value chart with a turnover of Rs 677.72 crore, followed by Tata Steel (Rs 158.66 crore), SBI (Rs 106.57 crore) and Tata Motors (Rs 106.47 crore).
JP Infratech led the volume chart with trades of 16.05 million shares, followed by Piramal Healthcare (12.21 million), IFCI (7.65 million) and SJVN (6.19 million) shares.