Markets today slipped on profit booking, erasing early gains.
The Sensex opened strong on cues from global markets and surged to a high of 17,098. However, index slipped 162 points from there to touch a low of 16,936 in noon trades.
The Sensex, once again, recovered from the red on a positive outlook by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about the country's GDP. The BSE benchmark finally ended with a gain of 22 points at 16,994.
The Nifty added eight points to 5,089.
The BSE realty index was the most prominent gainer and added 1.7% to 3,460.
The BSE market breadth was positive. Out of 2,942 stocks traded, 1,672 advanced while 1,166 declined.
DLF rallied 4% to Rs 317. Hero Honda gained 3.4% at Rs 1,856.
Bhati Airtel and Sun Pharma added 1.8% each to Rs 298 and Rs 1,610, respectively.
Other realty stocks also advanced. Jaiprakash Associates and Reliance Infrastructure were up 1% each.
On the other hand, Tata Motors remained weak throughout the day and ended at Rs 795 - down 2%. Wipro and BHEL slipped 1% each to Rs 687 and Rs 2,427, respectively.
Tata Motors topped the value chart on the BSE with a total turnover of Rs 387.68 crore. It was followed by Suzlon Energy (Rs 150.18 crore), Sesa Goa (Rs 119.76 crore), DLF (Rs 104.51 crore) and Tata Steel (Rs 82.18 crore).
Suzlon Energy led the volume chart on the BSE with trades of 18.77 million shares. It was followed by Cals Refineries (13.67 million), Shree Ashtavinyak (10.42 million), Pipavav Shipyard (10.27 million) and Unitech (8.5 million).
