Markets Recover in Later hours To Close Flat in Red

The Indian markets witnessed some recovery in the wee hours of trade to close almost flat in red. The gain was mostly led by the FMCG index which closed the day gaining more than one and half percentage points followed by the Auto and IT index. The main dragger for the day is the Consumer Durables index which closed the day declining more than two percentage points followed by the Oil & Gas, Realty and Metal indices. The Sensex closed the day in green declining 60.99 points or 0.34 percentage points to close at 17,971.12. Nifty ends the day at 55402.40 declining 13.05 points or 0.24 percentage points. Market breadth was negative with 922 advances against 1,993 declines on BSE. On the global front, European stocks dropped before reports on U.S. house prices and consumer confidence that may compound concern the recovery in the world’s largest economy is faltering. Asian shares and U.S. index futures fell.