Heavy selling in late trades saw the markets end with significant losses. The Sensex ended (provisional) 279 points lower at 19,413, and the Nifty dropped 84 points to 5,851.
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Updated at 1452 hrs
The Sensex continues to trade in the red in the last hour of trading for that day. The index after touching the day's low of 19,609 is on the recovery path. The Nifty is flat at 5933 while the Sensex is down three points at 19,697, up 88 points from the day's low.
In the broader markets, the smallcap and the midcap index continue to trade in the green. The smallcap index has gained 0.6% at 10,210 while the midcap index continues to hover around 0.1%. In comparison, the benchmark index underperforms at 0.02% in the negative.
Earlier the day, the markets had a volatile session of trading. The condition improved at once when the Asian indices started moving upwards as the Korean situation and the policy tightening in China eased. The markets later moved up to touch a high of 19,835.
However,the Asian markets have closed mixed. After closing down 2.7% yesterday, the markets have recovered to close in the green today, gaining 0.5% at 23,023. The Shanghai Composite in China closed 1% up in the positive with banks leading the gains. On the other hand,Nikkei, Seoul Composite and Taiwan Weighted dropped 0.1% to 0.8%
In the European markets, DAX and FTSE are the only indices trading in the green, gaining 0.1% each. CAC is trading down 0.4%. The US index futures indicates that Dow may rise nearly 32 points at the opening.
Among the BSE sectoral indices, Auto and Consumer Durables up 1% each lead the pack. Oil & Gas, FMCG and Health Care are the only indices in the green. Capital Goods and IT down 0.7% and 0.6% respectively are the major losers on the chart. Metal index which had moved up due to a rally in base metal prices is currently trading flat.
The gainers on the Sensex are Mahindra & Mahindra gaining nearly 4% on the acqusition news followed by Tata Motors, Tata Steel and ITC gaining 1% each.Index heavyweight RIL has inched ahead by 0.8%
BHEL, HDFC shedding 2% each are the top losers on the Sensex. SBI, Wipro,Jaiprakash Associates,TCS, ACC and HDFC Bank losing 1% each are the other major losers.
The market breadth is marginally positive owing to the broader markets. 1481 stocks have advanced while 1469 have declined.