Markets End on a Negative Note

The markets ended the day in the red owing to weakness in the global markets. The BSE Sensex is at 16,446, down 78 points and the S&P CNX Nifty is at 4,945, down 25 points. Earlier in the day, the Nifty had reclaimed the 5,000 mark and touched a high of 5,006 in opening trades, before having slipped into the red shortly after. Markets across the globe were trading flat as concerns about the Euro-zone officials actually being able to tackle the debt crisis resurfaced. Investors once again turned to the sidelines as details about efforts of the Euro-zone policy makers remained murky. In Asia, the Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average advanced 0.1 per cent, the Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite indices slipped 1 per cent each. Meanwhile, the European markets performed weak after having opened flat. The CAC 40 index is at 2,979, down two per cent, FTSE shed 0.8 per cent to 5,252 and the DAX was down 1.2 per cent to 5,563. On the Indian front, the sectoral indices BSE Capital Goods and Consumer Durables led the losses, having shed nearly two per cent each. BSE Metal witnessed profit booking seeping in after the rally on Monday. The index declined 2 per cent to 11,215. On Monday, the markets had rallied on hopes that leveraging the European Financial Stability Facility will help the struggling European nations avert debt default for which countries would have to vote. The overall market breadth is negative as 1,759 stocks have declined against 1,045 advancing ones, on the BSE.