Markets recover partially

Markets showcased partial recovery in noon deals on the back of positive European opening.

The Sensex was at 16,596, down 116 points and the S&P CNX Nifty was at 4,979, down 37 points. Earlier in the day, the Sensex had touched a low of 16,488.

According to Ranak Merchant, Technical Analyst - Strategies, Sushil Financial Services, "Post last week's upmove, some retracement was on the cards as we tested 5,100 and missed 17,000 mark by a whisker. 16,500 and 4,925 are next supports; if indices manage to hold the same, we can expect the upmove to resume."

Meanwhile, the European markets have opened higher. DAX was at 5,285, up 39 points, CAC 40 advanced 18 points to 3,017 and the FTSE added 22 points to 5,125.

Back home, DLF was the top loser among the Sensex stocks, down 5.4% to Rs 196. Sun Pharma shed 2.5% to Rs 491. State Bank of India, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, Sterlite Industries and Coal India were also trading lower by 1-2.4% each.

On the other hand, Mahindra & Mahindra was the top gainer. The stock advanced 2.5% to Rs 788. Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Jindal Steel, ONGC, Reliance Industries, BHEL, Wipro and Tata Power also advanced 1-1.5% each.

Most of the sectoral indices continued to trade in the negative territory. The BSE Realty index was the top sectoral loser, down 3.2% or 58 points to 1,726. The BSE banking index- Bankex also lost 1.4% or 158 points to 10,831. Metal, power, FMCG, consumer durables, IT and PSU indices also languished in intra-day deals.

At the same time, the BSE Auto and Oil & Gas indices were among the notable gainers on the sectoral charts.

The broader markets were trading on a lacklustre note. The BSE mid-cap index was at 6,338, down 18 points and the small-cap index was down four points to 7,142.

The overall breadth was negative as 1,375 stocks advanced while 1,121 stocks declined.