Markets Ends on a Negative Note

Markets ended in the red due to selling pressure in index heavyweights and weakness across European markets ahead of the new bailout plan for Greece. The Nifty index opened in the red and touched a high of 5,579 in the morning session. However, losses in index heavyweights-Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank and State Bank of India dragged the Nifty to a low of 5,532. The index closed near day’s low at 5,542, down 25 points and the benchmark Sensex ended at 18,436, down 66 points. BSE Consumer Durables index and realty index declined 2.2% and 1.4% each. Top losers from the Consumer Durables were Whirlpool, down 3.3%, Titan Industries lost 3.1% and Blue Star was off 3%. Top losers from Realty index were Orbit Corporation, down 4%, Anant Raj Industries was down 3.2% and Indiabulls Real Estate declined 2.4%. From the broader markets, the midcap and the small cap indices fell 0.4% each. Market breadth was positive 1187 stocks advanced for 1643 stocks which declined.