Markets End on a Subdued Note

After having spent all of noon in the negative, the markets made feeble attempts to recover towards the closing deals. However, the bourses witnessed a subdued closing. The BSE Sensex ended at 17,065, down marginally by 34 points and the Nifty ended at 5,133, down by seven points. The sentiment, across the markets, remained bearish for the day as the European markets traded in the negative terrain. In Europe, shares fell on Wednesday after strong gains in the previous day, with investors taking some money off the table ahead of the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting. The CAC 40 and DAX have shed a per cent each while the FTSE 100 index has shed 0.3 per cent. In India, the broader markets, however, performed comparatively firm with the BSE mid-cap index having ended at 6,477 and the small-cap index having shut at 7,352, up 0.7 per cent each. Among the sectoral indices, BSE Oil & Gas, Auto and Metal indices lead the losses, having declined 1-2 per cent each. Cairn India, RIL, Gail India and Essar Oil, down 1-2 per cent each, were the major losers among the Oil & Gas stocks. The overall market breadth was positive as 1,611 stocks advanced against 1,226 declining ones out of 2,964 stocks, on the BSE.