Disappointing close for markets

New Delhi: The markets ended weak on account of selling pressure across sectors. Most of the Asia ended weak, Nikkie and Hang Seng closed with deep cuts. Even Europe opened in red.

Most of the BSE indices ended weak or flat. With steel prices likely to stay weak, the metal index was the top loser followed by auto, banking and oil & gas stocks. Only IT index closed in green. The broader markets could not hold their gains at the higher levels and ended flat.

New listings Nelcast had good opening but had a lacklustre day closing below the issue price.

Sensex was down 70.02 points or 0.48 per cent at 14431.06, and the Nifty down 21.75 points or 0.51 per cent at 4263.95. About 1216 shares have advanced, 1317 shares declined, and 63 shares are unchanged.

The BSE Small Cap Index closed at 7,613.84 up 0.1 per cent. The BSE Midcap Index ended at 6,424.81 up 0.1 per cent.

The BSE FMCG Index closed at 1,816.32 down 0.2 per cent. United Spirits, Bata India, Marico, Dabur India closed in red. The BSE Metal Index closed at 10,685.59 down 0.8 per cent. Hind Zinc, SAIL, JindalStainless, Tata Steel were among the losers.

The BSE Health Care Index was down 0.3 per cent at 3,781.54. Cadila Health, Novartis India, Sun Pharma, Wyeth, Matrix Lab closed lower.

The BSE Capital Goods Index was up 0.3 per cent at 11,988.05. Gammon India, Lakshmi Machine, Praj Industries, Crompton Greave, Punj Lloyd ended lower.

The BSE Auto Index closed at 4,746.24 down 0.87 per cent. MICO, Cummins, Apollo Tyres, Mah and Mah, TVS Motor, Tata Motors among the losers.

The BSE IT Index closed at 4,843.47 up 0.9 per cent. Mphasis, Satyam, Patni Computer, TCS, HCL Tech, Infosys ended strong.

The BSE Bankex was down 0.6 per cent at 7,752.52. Bank of Baroda, Union Bank, UTI Bank, HDFC Bank, Oriental Bank, ICICI Bank, Allahabad Bank, SBI closed lower.

The BSE Oil and Gas Index closed at 7,616.72 down 0.5 per cent. Petronet LNG, BPCL, ONGC, GAIL closed in green.

The NSE cash turnover was at Rs 9359.09 crore and the NSE F&O turnover was at Rs 56258.84 crore.

The BSE cash turnover was Rs 4819.97 crore. Total market wide turnover was at Rs 70437.9 crore.