Markets End on a Negative Note

The Indian markets lost yesterday’s gain and closed in red. Today’s trading session was little sluggish with lots of ups and downs. Finally the benchmark index – Sensex ends at 20,875.71 down 56.77 points from yesterday’s close. The Nifty was at 6,275.70 down by 25.85 points. However, the midcaps and small caps outperformed the benchmark by closing in green. The midcap and smallcap indices were up by 0.29 and 0.86 percent respectively. The sales numbers after the festive season drove the consumer durable index gaining almost 5 percent. The effect is also seen in Auto index which was up by almost one percent. Even weak start is seen on European stock exchanges at the time of closing of Indian markets. France's CAC, Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE were down 0.47-0.7 percent. With better than expected result numbers, Tata motors touch its new 52 week high. However, with net profit belo expectation, Bharti Airtel slipped 2.2 percent. Interestingly, the market breadth was positive with 1,804 advance and 1,210 declines