Sensex ends down 71pts

Sensex ended (provisional) at 18,744 - down 71 points. Nifty ended down 20 points at 5,631.
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(Updated at 1436 hrs)

Markets remained choppy in late noon trades, albeit off the day's lows. The Sensex dropped into the negative zone in early trades on political worries. Strength in auto and IT sectors helped the index touch a high of 18,838. However, the BSE benchmark index dropped to a low of 18,694. The Sensex was down 55 points at 18,759. Nifty was down 16 points at 5,633.

Political concerns once again rocked the state of Andhra Pradesh with nine MPs resigning to press their demands for a separate state of Telangana.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1131.72 crore on Monday, taking their total investment value to around Rs 7,762 cr from June 23.

Asian markets ended on a flat note today with investors still wary about Europe's debt problem. The Hang Seng was down 0.1% while Nikkei and Shanghai Composite gained 0.1% each. The Nikkei eked out gains for the sixth straight day on hopes of an improving economic outlook. However, analysts expect the momentum to fade out soon.

BSE auto index continued to shine in an otherwise weak market. The index gained 0.8% after auto majors came out with data showing a better-than-expected jump in domestic sales. Ashok Leyland gained 3.3% at Rs 51. Mahindra & Mahindra jumped 1.5% to Rs 712. Apollo Tyres, Exide Industries and Tata Motors were up around 1-2% each.

IT index was up 0.5% at 6,190. IT major, Infosys is set to announce its Q1 results on July 12, thereby kick-starting the earnings season this month. The stock gained 0.6% at Rs 2,958. Wipro was up 1.3% while Patni Computers and HCL Tech jumped 2% each.

However, weakness remained in realty, power and oil & gas stocks. The indices dropped 1.2% each in late-noon trades.

Banking stocks fell on profit taking with traders worrying that high inflation and rising interest rates would hurt future profits. ICICI Bank snapped nine-days of gains and was down marginally at Rs 1,098. IDBI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank,Federal Bank and Axis Bank were dow in trades.

Idea Cellular dropped 2.3% to Rs 77 after a court ruling asked the company along with Spice Communications to surrender the overlapping licences of Punjab and Karnataka circles to the Department of Telecommunications.

BHEL shed 3.6% following news that the Union Cabinet is likely to approve disinvestment of 5% of the government's equity in state-run equipment company next week. Among other PSUs, NTPC 1% in the day on reports that a panel set up by the environment ministry has held back clearance for NTPC's subsea gas pipeline in Kerala.

BSE market breadth was neutral. Out of 2,860 stocks traded, 1,403 advanced while 1,330 declined.