Markets end in red, Nifty holds 5500

After a subdued day of trading the Sensex finally closed at 18,385, down 69 points and the Nifty held fort above the crucial 5,500 level at 5,528 shedding 12 points.The Nifty had added more than a hundred points in the past two trading sessions, and infact, comprehensively crossed the 5500 mark on Thursday. Technical analyst Devangshu Datta and Anand Rathi Research say that the Nifty has a strong support at 5480 levels.

Even on the global front, the scene was not much different. The Asian markets ended in the red with Hang Seng down 0.4% and the Nikkei shedding 2%. The European markets too looked bleak with FTSE down 0.4%, CAC and DAX shedding 0.5% each. So the Indian markets had been resilient, not reacting much to the global cues.

After a stellar performance the previous day, the markets started the session on a weak note. The US markets had ended in the red in the wake of lower than expected jobs data, and the Asian markets had opened in the negative. As the day progressed, the markets rebounded into the green and went on to touch the day's high of 18,464, up 104 points. However, the markets soon slipped into the red once again, in noon trades, due to the weak European markets.

In the broader market, the smallcap index was up 0.07% and the midcap index was down 0.2%. The movers in the smallcap space were Jindal Poly Films and SPML Infra which added 13% each followed by Gujarat Sidhee Cement up 11%. In the midcap space the major gainer was Wockhardt which added 10% and continued to lead the charts for the third consecutive day. Jubilant Foodworks, BF Utilities and Gammon India were the other major gainers.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, the day belonged to the Realty up 1.8%, Capital Goods up 1.3%, Oil & Gas up 0.8% and Health Care up 0.7%. All the other indices ended in the red. Realty made a comebeck after several days in the negative. Sobha Dev up 4%, DLF and D B Realty which gained 3% each were the major movers in the realty space.

Intially PSU index too had emerged at the top but slipped into the red as the day progressed. FMCG declined 1% and was the biggest loser. Mcleod Russel ended down 2% followed by Hindustan Unilever and Tata Global which shed 1.7% each were the main graggers in the FMCG space. On the Capital Goods front, Gammon India whaich added 8%, AIA Engineering and Lakshmi Machine Works up 3-4% were the propellers.

DLF (up 3.5% at Rs 332) was the major gainer on the Sensex followed by L&T (up 3% at Rs 1869), Cipla (gaining 2% at RS 310) were the other prominent gainers. Index heavyweight RIL inched higher 1.1% at Rs 988.

Tata Motors (down 2% at Rs 1015) is the top losers on the Sensex . ICICI Bank, Wipro and Hindustan Unilever which lost 1.7% each were the other major losers.

The market breadth was negative. Of the 3,071 shares traded on the BSE, 1,602 stocks have declined while 1,353 have advanced.