Markets ended a choppy session lower mainly on the back of weak global cues. Investors turned cautious ahead of the European Union Summit this week. Markets started off the day on a firm note however it was towards the end of the day that it slipped in red to end the day below the flat line. Volatility remained with F&O expiry due this week. Market breadth was positive during the day as on BSE, 1,471 shares gained and 1,358 shares declined.
The BSE Sensex touched an intraday high of 17,131 and a low of 16,853 once again losing the 17,000 as it ended 0.5% or 90 points lower at 16,882. The mid cap stocks ended flat whiles the small cap stocks bucked the trend to report some gains. The BSE Mid-cap index ended almost unchanged and BSE Small-cap index gained 0.2%. The S&P CNX Nifty too shed 0.6% or 31 points lower at 5,114 points.
Majority of the indices on the BSE sectoral space ended in red with only the BSE Consumer Durables (up 0.2%) being the exception. Interest rate sensitive sectors continue to lose. The BSE Bankex, BSE Realty and BSE Auto indices fell 1%, 0.7% and 0.6% respectively. Metal stocks too fell with global uncertainty. The BSE Metal index shed 0.7%. IT stocks were too hit with concerns of slowing global economic growth. The BSE IT index fell 0.7%.
Among BSE – 30 stocks, 21 stocks ended in red while the rest gained. Hero Motor, Hindalco, ONGC, Cipla and SBI were the top five losers which fell between 2% - 2.7% respectively. On the other hand, Maruti, GAIL, RIL, HDFC and Bajaj Auto were among the top five gaining stocks which grew by 1.1%, 0.8%, 0.7%, 0.5% and 0.3% respectively.
As per the data released by SEBI, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in equity to the tune of Rs 119 crores. On the other hand, they were net buyers in debt segment to the tune of Rs 192 crores.
