After testing 5600, Nifty turned negative and pared all the gains falling 11 points, at 5534 on back of losses in realty shares. The Sensex declined 34 points, at 18,472.
Markets surged in the morning on expecations of positive news from the budget and firm cues from Asia, but profit booking set in after Nifty touched 5,599 in the morning session.
Market valuation continue to reman cheal and market analysts recommend investors to buy stocks that are available at bargain price. Jigar Lodaya, AVP (Advisory Equity) from Sharekhan, said, "in terms of valuation, the Sensex, post correction, is trading at close to 15 times FY2012 expected earnings, which is close to mean valuations. We believe that this has 'provided an excellent opportunity for investors to selectively buy in this market."
Rate sensitive realty and auto shares were leading the losses. BSE Realty and Auto indices were down 1% and 0.5% each. From realty pack Anant Raj Industries dipped 4.9%, Sobha Developers was down 3.4% and Parsvanath Developers fell 2.4%. Tata Motors declined 1.7%, Hero Honda fell 1% and Ashok Leyland was off 0.8% from auto sector.
BSE FMCG was leading the sectoral pack, up 0.7%. Hindustan Unilever was up 2.2%, Godrej Industries advanced 1.8% and Nestle India was up 1.6%.
Broader markets were also trading in the red, midcap and smallcap indices were down 0.1% and 0.2% each.
ADAG companies Reliance Infrastructure and Reliance Communication were the top losers on the Sensex down 3.5% and 3% each. ONGC fell 2.1% and JP Associates dipped 1.8%, were all the prominent losers. Top gainers were Hindustan Unilever, up 2.2%, Wipro zoomed 1.8% and HDFC Bank was up 1.5%.
Market breadth was negative 1499 stocks declined for 1056 stocks that advanced.