Markets close flat for second consecutive day

The markets have closed flat for the second consecutive day with the Nifty down nine points at 5,541 and the Sensex lost 24 points at 18,504.
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(Updated at 1439 hrs)
The markets continue to trade in the negative range with the fresh weakness witnessed in the consumer durables and banking space in the afternoon trades. The BSE benchmark index, Sensex is down 62 points at 18,466; down 223 points from the day's high of 18,689. The Nifty too is down 24 points at 5,527. In the broader markets, the smallcap index is flat while the midcap index has slipped into the negative, down 0.1% outperforming the Sensex which is down 0.3%

At the start of the day, the markets opened flat  tracking lacklustre cues in the global markets as commodity prices firmed up renewing concerns of inflation and further rate hike. As the day progressed the Sensex climbed north on the back of strength seen in the FMCG space particularly Hindustan Unilever. From thereon the markets consolidated gains but due to the selling pressure seen in the banking space the markets slipped into the negative in afternoon trades.

Among the sectoral indices, FMCG and Realty are the indices trading in the positive. On the other hand, Consumer Durables down nearly 1% followed by Bankex  and Capital Goods losing 0.7% and 0.5% respectively. The draggers in the consumer durables space are Whirlpool down 4.5% followed by Gitanjali Gems, Titan Industries and Rajesh Exports losing 1% each.Bank of India, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank losing 1% each are the draggers in the banking space.

The top gainers among the Sensex stocks are Hindustan Unilever up nearly 5%, Sterlite Industries, Reliance Communication, NTPC, DLF and Cipla gaining between 1-2%.

Among the losers are HDFC Bank, Tata Power, Hero Honda, Tata Steel,Reliance Infrastructure and Mahindra & Mahindra shedding 1% each.

The market breadth is marginally negative. Of the total 2830 stocks traded on the BSE, 1353 stocks have declined while 1326 have advanced.