Markets recover losses partially, Sensex down 35pts

The markets recoverd their losses partially, but they were still trading in the red. The Sensex at 19,100 was down 35 points, while the Nifty at 5,729 slipped 21 points.

Tata Power was the top gainer on the Sensex up nearly 3% at Rs 1,337, followed by DLF at Rs 229 up 2.6% and Cipla at Rs 314 up 2%. Hindustan Unilever, Reliance Infra, Jaiprakash Associates and Bharti Airtel also notched up about 1% each.

State-run lender State Bank of India shed heavily, and was down 3% at Rs 2,725, contributing 29 points to the total loss on the Sensex. Auto stock Maruti Suzuki shed almost 2% at Rs 1,299 while Sterlite Industries declined more than 1% to Rs 179. Jindal Steel, HDFC Bank, and Auto index components Bajaj Auto, Mahindra & Mahindra and Hero Honda declined 1% each. The country's largest private lender, ICICI Bank, was down 1% at Rs 1,107, contributing 10 points to the total loss lodged on the Sensex.

The broader markets moved in a negative belt; both the indices were off 0.5%. THe Mid-cap index was at 7,062, while the Small-cap index settled at 8,676.

Realty stocks led the sectoral indices, with the index at 2,212 up 1.5%, followed by the Healthcare index at 6,294 up 1% and the FMCG index up 0.6% at 3,777.

The Bankex continued to witness selling pressure as the index shed 1.5% at 12,881. The Metal index at 16,074 and the PSU index at 9,007 shed 0.7% each.

Market breadth remained negative with 1,047 advances versus 1,493 declines.