Markets in red, Sensex down 50pts

The markets have slipped back into the negative zone owing to fresh weakness in index heavyweight Reliance. The Sensex is now down 54 points at 19,037.  The NSE Nifty has declined 13 points to 5,716.
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(Updated at 1304 hrs)

The markets traded on a flat note in the last one hour of trade. The Sensex was at 19,116, higher by 25 points and the Nifty added 8 points to 5737.

On the corporate front IDBI Bank declared its fourth quarter results. The Bank posted consolidated net profit of Rs 516.25 crore compared to Rs 318.4 crore during the same quarter previous year. the consolidated net interest income came in at Rs 1108.53 crore versus Rs 762.9 crore (YoY).

Back to the markets, Bharti Airtel was the top gainer on the Sensex, the stock advanced 1.9% to Rs 374. HDFC Bank was trading higher by 1.6%, the stock gained after reporting good set of Q4 numbers. Reliance Communication, Cipla, Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, TCS and Infosys were also trading marginally higher. On the other hand Hero Honda, BHEL, Tata Power, DLF, ONGC and Maruti Suzuki were the top losers.

Realty stocks continued to witness the selling presssure for the second consecutive session. The BSE Realty index had shed 1.2% or 28 points at 2305. Power, PSU and Capital Goods indices were also trading lower by 0.4 - 1% each. Meanwhile, technology stocks witnessed some fresh buying, the BSE IT index was up 24 points or 0.4% at 6,111 and Teck index advanced 0.55% at 3684. Banking and Oil & Gas indices were also trading marginally in the green.

The broader markets also traded on a flat note as the BSE mid-cap index declined 4 points to 7112 while the small-cap index advanced 5 points at 8741.

The overall market breadth was negative as 1,500 stocks declined while 1,185 stocks advanced.