Trading sessions remained dull, after four days of gains, due to ongoing profit-booking; the Sensex lost 19 points at 19,974, while the Nifty lost 10 points at 6,002.
The BSE's broader indices were in a negative zone after opening nearly flat in the morning.
The BSE Midcap at 8,069 and BSE Smallcap at 10,263, both down 1%, were in a contrast to yesterday's positive movements. Welspun Corp lost nearly 18% at Rs 180, followed by Ackruti City down 14% at Rs 332 and Core Projects down 11% at Rs 236 were the losers in the Midcap space.
The Smallcap losers were Parekh Aluminium at Rs 412 and Karuturi Global at Rs 24, both down 20%, and Murli Industries down 19% at Rs 72, after the Sebi banned the company, accused of price rigging, from transacting in the markets.
Six out of seven of the sectoral indices were trading in positive range.
The IT and Teck indices led the sectoral chart up 1% each at 6,247 and 3,793 respectively.
Realty stocks, after recovering from the housing loan scam hammering, saw a bounceback over the past two days. However, today, the index slipped into negative territory down 2% at 3,001.
The Consumer Durables index traded down 2% at 6,475, while the Bankex, another index which saw a bounceback after the loan fiasco, was down 1% at 14,057.
Top gainers on the Sensex were HUL up 3% at Rs 304, followed by Cipla at Rs 371 and Hero Honda Motor at Rs 1,822, both up 2%. Laggard scrips on the Sensex were Sterlite Industries at Rs 166, followed by Reliance Infra at Rs 853 and DLF at Rs 313, all down 2%.
