Markets end flat on global cues

Markets pared early gains owing to subdued Asian cues and ended marginally in red today.

The Sensex today opened in the green and touched a high of 17,591 buoyed by strong Q3 numbers from Wipro. However, weakness in Asian markets and US index futures, dampened investor sentiments. The index shed 166 points from the high to an intra-day low of 17,425. The Sensex managed to recover somewhat and ended nearly flat at 17,474 - down 12 points.

The Nifty ended down four points at 5,222.

Asian markets slumped on worries of China tightening monetary policy. The Hang Seng dropped 392 points (1.8%) to 21,286. The Shanghai Composite tumbled 95 points (2.9%) to 3,152.

The BSE realty index shed 2% in trades to 3,930. Oil & gas, PSU and FMCG indices were down around 1% each.

The Mid-caps and small caps were also flat in trades.

Bharti Airtel gained 3.5% at Rs 331. Auto stocks added on good Q3 numbers. Maruti Suzuki advanced 2.6% to Rs 1,457. Hero Honda ended up at Rs 1,679.

Metal stocks gained. Tata Steel jumped 2.4% to Rs 654 and Hindalco added 1.7% to Rs 166.

ICICI Bank and Hindustan Unilever were the other top gainers.

On the other hand, Jaiprakash Associates and ONGC have dropped 3% each to Rs 155 and Rs 1,163, respectively.

Sterlite bucked the trend amng metal stocks and edged 1.7% lower at Rs 854. DLF slipped 1.7% to Rs 374.

Wipro shed 1.6% at Rs 725 after touching a new 52-week high. The company posted a net rise of 21.3% at Rs 1,217.40 crore.

Mahindra & Mahindra, HDFC Bank, Reliance Infrastructure and Grasim also ended in the red.