Markets end near the day's lows

The Sensex touched a low of 19,339 and ended(provisional) down 217 points at 19,347. Nifty ended down 70 points at 5,845, shrugging off the Prime Miniter's comments about the recovery of the economy.

European stock markets opened mostly lower on Wednesday, tracking losses seen in Asia markets, as investors questioned whether the rally in global equities has been overdone. In Asia as well, markets ended lower with the Nikkei slipping 0.6% at 12,239. Shanghai stocks traded sharply lower for a second day, as investors assessed whether the economic outlook supported further gains.

Back in India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said in the Lok Sabha that the economy will return back to high growth trajectory within the next 2-3 years. He also said that the GDP has slowed down in the last couple of years owing to several domestic as well as international factors.