RIL, L&T pull down markets

Given the positive global cues, our markets started the day on a steady note. The Sensex touched a high of 18,137 but soon pared gains and traded on a flat note for most part of the trading day.

The markets thereafter witnessed downmove, mainly on account of weakness in Reliance. The Oil & Gas gaint which opened higher following strong Q1 performance began to slip in the second half of the trading day on earnings concern going forward. The stock had touched a high of Rs 1,069 in opening trades, but tumbled to a low of Rs 1,018, and finally ended with a loss of 3% at Rs 1,021. The stock alone accounted for 75 points loss on the Sensex. The BSE Oil & Gas index shed almost 2% at 10,265.

Similarly, the Sensex dropped to a low of 17,925 - down 212 points from the day's high. The index finally ended with a loss of 120 points at 17,957. The NSE Nifty ended with a loss of 33 points at 5398.

Realty stocks too exhibited weakness, and the realty index slipped 1.3% to 3417.

Among the Asian peers, Nikkei rallied 2.7% to 9753. Shanghai surged 2.3% to 2634. Hang Seng rallied 0.6% to 21106. Taiwan Weighted index advanced 0.5% to 7785.

Hindustan Unilever and Larsen & Toubro (accounting for 27 points loss on the index) also ended on a weak note post results. The former dropped 3% to Rs 252, while the latter shed 2% at Rs 1,825. DLF too tumbled 2.4% to Rs 312 ahead of the earnings.

ICICI Bank, HDFC, Jindal Steel, NTPC, ACC, Jaiprakash Associates and Reliance Communications were the other major losers.

SBI and Cipla bucked the trend, and ended with gains of 1.5% each at Rs 2,471 and Rs 330, respectively.

HDFC Bank, ITC and Tata Motors were the other prominent gainers.

The market breadth was fairly negative - out of 3,012 stocks traded today, 1,682 declined while 1,197 advanced.

Debutant Aster Silicates topped the value chart with a turnover of Rs 591 crore followed by Reliance (Rs 271 crore), Aban Offshore (Rs 261.83 crore), Arss Infra (Rs 171.32 crore) and TCS (Rs 115.69 crore).