Sensex ends flat

Sensex ends (provisional) at 17,557- down six points. Nifty ends up five points at 5,289.
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(Updated at 1431hrs)

Markets have recovered from the lows of the day and is once again trading flat. The Sensex after slipping to a low of 17,455, managed to recover to 17,568 - up marginally from yesterday's close. The Nifty was flat at 5,291.

Asian markets ended lower as investors worried that surging bond yields could stifle debt-ridden Italy's fund raising ability and throw the euro zone deeper into financial turmoil. Hang Seng was flat at 19,678. Nikkei slipped 1.3% to 8,656. Seoul Composite and Taiwan Weighted were also weak in trades. Meanwhile, France has announced new austerity measures designed to maintain the AAA credit rating. European markets were in green. CAC and DAX rose 1% in opening trades to 3,135 and 5,984, respectively. FTSE added 0.7% to 5,553.

BSE consumer durables index remained the top gainer among sectoral indices and moved up 0.6% at 6,564. The FMCG index gained on the back of Hindustan Unilever. HUL was up 1.7% at Rs 385.

SBI, TCS and BHEL gained around 1% each. ONGC added 0.7% at Rs 280 after reporting 60% year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in net profit of Rs 8,642 crore for the quarter ended September 2011 against Rs 5,389 crore in the year-ago period, on the back of higher crude prices and reduced subsidy outgo. Revenue was up 24.4% at Rs 22,687 crore on y-o-y basis.

Meanwhile, realty shares continued to be weak as the index dropped 1.4% to 1,896. Parsvnath Developers slipped 4% to Rs 76. Indaibulls Real Estate, DB Realty, Sobha Developers, DLF and Anant Raj Industries also shed 1% each.

Sun Pharma slipped 1.6%, followed by NTPC, Wipro and Bajaj Auto. Cipla, HDFC and ICICI Bank also slipped in trades.

BSE market breadth was marginally negative. Out of 2,849 stocks traded, 1,443 shares have declined while 1,299 have advanced.