The markets losed in the negative with the sensex down 42 points at 18,223 while the Nifty closed flat with a negative bias at 5,470.
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(Updated at 1437 hrs)
The pullback rally, which began last Thursday, has proven to be short lived. The markets have surrendered all their gains clocked in the early part of trade on the back of weakness in the high weightage oil and auto space. The Sensex is currently down 50 points at 18,215 while the Nifty is flat with a negative bias at 5,467.
The broader markets on the other hand continue to trade strong with the midcap index up 0.7% and the smallcap index is holding its gains at 0.6%. In comparison to the Sensex which is down 0.1% the broader markets are outperforming.
Earlier the day, the benchmark indices had begun the day on a healthy note, with the BSE Sensex firming up by nearly 100 points in the early part of the session. The markets did cave into selling pressure thereafter, induced by profit-booking following the gains starting on Thursday, before retracing to the previous day's closing levels, thus swinging nearly 180 points through the day.
Among the sectoral indices, Health Care index up 2% was leading the gains followed by Consumer durables and Realty gaining 1% each. On the other hand, the Auto index slipped by 1% followed by Oil & Gas index losing 0.8%.Mahindra & Mahindra down 4%, Apollo Tyres and Apollo Tyres losing 1% each are the draggers in the auto space.
Apart from the auto scrips, the top losers among the Sensex stocks are Hindalco, ONGC, Jindal Steel, ITC and Reliance Industries down between 1- 2%.
Cipla and Reliance Communications up 3% each are the top gainers in the afternoon trades followed by DLF, HDFC, Bajaj Auto and TCS adding 1% each.
The market breadth is positive. Of the total 2820 stocks traded on the BSE, 1585 stocks have advanced while 1111 declined.