Markets close in the red

The markets ended on a negative note, with the Sensex at 17,855 down 24 points, and the Nifty at 5,370 down 4 points (provisional).

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(Updated at 1430 hrs)

Although the markets opened in the green this morning, taking positive cues from the global markets, they slipped into the red soon after, and continued to trade in a negative belt until late morning, after which the markets rebounded, and began trading in a narrow positive belt.

During the last leg of trade, the Sensex was quoting at 17,923 up 44 points, while the Nifty was flat, with a positive bias, at 5,388 up 14 points. The Sensex had touched an intra-day low soon after trading commenced, dipping to 17,792, down 216 points from the day's high of 18,008, which the BSE benchmark scaled, again, during the early hours of trade.

Escalating concerns in Libya exerted pressure on crude prices, which moved above the $100 mark, after last week's relative price easing. With a no immediate signs of tensions easing in the West Asian oil-producing nation, investors remained cautious, and a sense of diffidence enveloped markets worldwide.

Gainers on the index were led by metal stocks Jindal Steel at Rs 664 up 2% and Tata Steel at Rs 605 up 1%, followed by HDFC at Rs 629 also up 1%. Conversely, Hindalco Industries at Rs 192 down 2% was the top loser on the Sensex, while Cipla at Rs 290 and Hero Honda at Rs 1,465 were both down 1%.

The broader markets under-performed the benchmark, as the Mid-cap and Small-cap indices, both trading marginally in the red, were at 6,504 and 7,789 respectively.

In the mid-cap space, MVL was the top loser at Rs 28 down 8%, while KGN Industries at Rs 11 and Gujarat Gas at Rs 381, both down 5%, were the other major losers.

Significant losers on the small-cap index were Piramal Life at Rs 113 and Sujana Towers at Rs 28, both down 8%, and Orient Abrasives at Rs 34 down 7%.

The Oil & Gas index was the top sectoral gainer at 9,748 up 0.6%, followed by the Metal index at 15,367 also up 0.6%, and the Healthcare index at 5,813 up 0.4%. The Realty index languished at the bottom of the sectoral chart at 2,042 down 0.6%.

HPCL was the top gainer amongst the energy stocks at Rs 338, followed by Petronet LNG at Rs 120 and Cairn India at Rs 352, all up 2%. Amongst metal stocks, Jindal Steel led the gains at Rs 665, followed by SAIL at Rs 160 and Tata Steel at Rs 605 all up 2%.

In the realty space, Mahindra Lifespaces was the top loser at Rs 352, Sunteck Realty at Rs 297 and DB Realty at Rs 110 all down 2%.

The market breadth was negative, with 1,237 advances, versus 1,547 declines.