Sensex ends down 101 pts

The Sensex has ended (provisional) at 17,704 - down 101 points. Nifty ends down 36 points at 5,324.
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(Updated at 1445 hrs)

Markets have dropped into the red once again after staging a short recovery. The Sensex is down 75 points at 17,730. Nifty is down 28 points at 5,333.

Asian markets ended in the negative zone today. Hang Seng dropped 0.7% to 19,864. Seoul Composite and the Straits Times slipped over 1% each to 1,909 and 2,869, respectively. In Europe, the CAC and DAX dropped over 1% each. FSTE was down 1% at 5,640.

The Sensex had recovered to a high of 17,813 on the back of banking and IT shares. The BSE bankex had gained after heavyweight came out with numbers. The index has no come off its highs and is now up 0.7% at 11,456. IT index has turned flat at 5,839.

Meanwhile, the BSE metal, oil & gas and auto indices are trading weak today.

ICICI Bank has reported a net profit of Rs 1,503 crore, up 21.70% from Rs 1,236 crore in the same quarter last fiscal. Net Interest Income has been declared at Rs 2,506 crore. The stock was up marginally at Rs 934.

Among other banking names Dena Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Corporation Bank and Dena Bank came out with quarterly numbers.

Hindustan Unilever from the FMCG pack, posted a net profit of Rs 689 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2011 as compared to Rs 566 crore in the year ago period. The stock jumped 6% to Rs 369. Meanwhile Dabur posted a net profit of Rs 173 crore for the second quarter ended September, 2011. Colgate Palmolive has added 0.6% to Rs 1,005 after Q2 net decreased to Rs 100 crore.

Wipro slipped 1% to Rs 369 after gaining smartly in opening trades. The company reported 1% year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in net profit to Rs 1,301 crore for the quarter ended September 2011 helped by a weaker rupee and rise in spending on outsourcing by overseas clients. Analysts expected a net profit of Rs 1,294 crore from the India’s third largest software services exporter in the recently concluded quarter.

BSE market breadth is marginally negative. Out of 2,857 stocks traded,1,452 shares have advanced while 1,300 shares have declined.