Markets end in dep red; metal, bank stocks drag

18 December 2007

The markets opened on weak note toady and proceeded to trade weak for  most part of the the day amid sharp volatility and ended with deep cut. Metal, banking, power, cap goods and realty stocks traded under pressure for most part of the day, however pharma, durables and FMCG stocks remained firm.

Market breadth remained negative throughout the day. It was disappointing day for the midcap and smallcap counters which has been outperforming the frontliners for some time. Volume in today's trade was quite appreciable.

Sensex closed down 181.71 points or 0.94% at 19079.64, and the Nifty ended with a cut of 34.70 points or 0.60% at 5742.30. BSE midcap ended down 0.13% at 9093.84 and BSE smallcap was down 0.18% at 11818.12. On BSE, about 1368 shares advanced, 1686 shares declined, and 41 shares remained unchanged. On NSE, 451 stocks advanced and 764 stocks declined.

BSE auto index ended down 0.08% at 5564.87. Exide, Bharat Forge and Punj Lloyd were some of the losers in this sector.

BSE bankex was down 1.42% at 10764.22. In the banking space, Canara bank, Axis bank and ICICI bank were top losers.

BSE capital goods index was down 1.18% at 18902.71. BEML, L&T, Kalpataru Power and Reliance Infra were top losers.