Markets End in Red

The markets had a rough ride as unwinding of positions ahead of April derivatives expiry took a toll on key heavyweights. The Sensex shaved off nearly 300 points from the highs registered at opening bell to end the day at 19,292, lower by 156 points and the Nifty ended at 5785, down 48 points. The midcap index ended at 7168, lower by 70 points and the small cap index ended at  8854, down  42 points. The markets had opened on a firm note tracking strong regional peers. Asia was in an upbeat mood after Wall Street cheered Ben Bernanke's statement that rates would remain unchanged. But the optimism proved to be short-lived as rollover pressures in the derivatives segment dragged the indices into the red and jettisoned all attempts at a pullback, leading to a degree of choppiness in the later part of the day. While the Asian markets ended in the green and European and European markets had a steady look about them, the markets back home stuck a discordant note for the second consecutive session. On the macro-economic front, the food inflation went up marginally to 8.76% for the week ended April 16 from 8.74% in the previous week. The market breadth was negative. Out of 2991 stocks traded on the BSE, there were 1099 advancing stocks as against 1786 declines.