Sensex ends down 209pts

The markets ended at the day's low today, with the Sensex at 19,243 down 209 points, and the Nifty at 5,780 off 63 points (provisional).

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(Updated at 1440 hrs)

Oil and gas exploration major Reliance Industries, along with HDFC, HDFC Bank and Tata Motors dragged the Sensex down. Weak IIP numbers, and rising crude prices, which may result in a fiscal strain on the economy, exerted pressure on the bourses. During the late afternoon session, the Sensex, which dipped to its intra-day low of 19,247, recovered partially to 19,282 down 169 points, while the Nifty was trading at 5,791 down 51 points. The markets, which opened in the red today, saw an uptrend during the initial hour of trade, touched its peak of 19,426. However, rampant selling in auto and realty stocks, along with slipping heavyweights, saw the bourses dip into the red. Negative movements continue ever since.

The broader markets were also quoting in the negative, after a rally seen in the sectors last week. The Mid-cap index was at 7,133 down 0.7% while the Small-cap index, at 8,716, was off 0.8%. Sunteck Relaty was the top loser on the mid-cap index, down 10% at Rs 342. JM Financial at Rs 28 and S Kumar Nation at Rs 65, both down 5%, were the other major losers. In the small-cap space, Kanani Industries dropped 8% to Rs 240, while Lloyds Metal at Rs 44 and Oriental Hotels at Rs 32 slipped 6% each.

Amongst the sectoral indices, healthcare stocks managed to stay afloat in positive terrain; the index was flat at 6,141 up marginally by 0.3%. Divis Lab at Rs 710 was the top gainer on the Healthcare index up 3%, followed by Sun Pharma at Rs 451 up 2%, on newspaper reports the hime-grown pharma firm is eyeing a marketing alliance for the Indian market with the US-based drugmaker Merck & Co, and IPCA LAb at Rs 314 up 1%.

Conversely, the Realty, AUto and Consumer Durables indeices were the major laggards in trade, with the Realty index at 2,409, Auto at 9,196 and Consumer Durables at 6,319 all down 2% each. Sunteck Realty tumbled 11% to Rs 340 on the Realty index, followed by Sobha Developers at Rs 298 down 4% and DLF at Rs 251 down 3%.

Another rate-sensitive sector, auto, lost out as crude prices, simmering near 2.5-year highs (Brent crude touched $126 in trade today), threatened to stoke inflation, even as commodity prices rose to fresh 2,5-year highs, due to a weak dollar, and robust trade data from China. Rising input costs have prompted automakers to offset costs by increasing vehicle prices. In the auto space, Bajaj Auto at Rs 1,374 and Tata Motors at Rs 1,220 (the scrip contributed 16 points to the total loss on the Sensex) were the major losers on the benchmark, while Mahindra & Mahindra slipped 2% to Rs 710.

Oil & gas exploration major Reliance Industries at Rs 1,008 shed 2% as the firm came undr pressure from clients, which demanded the company make good for the shortfall in its gas supply due to lowered production from its expansive KG-D6 basin. Non-banking financial company HDFC declined more than 2% to Rs 692, while HDFC Bank at Rs 2,302, also down more than 2%, added 29 and 23 points respectively to the total loss on the Sensex.