Markets end in red; FMCG drags

Markets bucked early trends and ended on a flat note, as buying resumed in select PSU and banking stocks.

The Sensex opened near the day's low of 17,856 and gained strength in morning trades. The index touched a high of 18,005. However, the index became volatile in a narrow range, thereafter, and finally ended down 27 points at 17,928.

The Nifty ended at 5,386 - down seven points.

BSE mid and small-cap indices outperformed the broader markets and ended with marginal gains. The mid-cap index added 0.2% at 7,397 and the small-cap index jumped 0.14% at 9,456.

In Asia, the Shanghai Composite added 2% to 2,475. Hang Seng, however, dropped 0.8% to 20,090.

The Takeover Regulations Advisory Committee constituted under the chairmanship of C Achuthan submitted its report to Sebi chairman C B Bhave on Monday. The commitee has recommended major changes on issues like open offer trigger limit, indirect acquisitions, offer size, voluntary open offer, calculating the offer price and also on competing offers.

Among the sectoral indices, the BSE FMCG index dropped 1.5% to 3,179. Realty, oil and healthcare indices also fell.

NTPC gained 2.2% at Rs 203. Reliance Communications added 2.2% to Rs 191 on reports of a stake sale to Emirates Telecommunications.

Hindalco added 1.5% to Rs 152. Larsen & Toubro and HDFC were up 1% each. SBI, HDFC Bank and Mahindra & Mahindra were other gainers in the market today.

Meanwhile ITC shed 2.5% at Rs 291. Sterlite tumbled 1.5% to Rs 164. DLF slipped 1.4% to Rs 315.

Maruti Suzuki and Hero Honda slipped 1% each to Rs 1,364 and Rs 1,957, respectively.

TCS, BHEL, Jaiprakash Associates and Reliance Infrastructure were down 1% each. Other losers included Tata Motors, Hindustan Unilever and Reliance.

BSE market breadth was marginally positive. Out of 3,021 stocks traded, 1,506 advanced while 1,399 declined.

Value & volume toppers...

IFCI topped the value chart with a turnover of Rs 6,078 cr, followed by Tata Steel (Rs 59.93 cr), Sesa Goa (Rs 55.68 cr), Reliance (Rs 53.32 cr) and Reliance Capital (Rs 51.63 cr).

The volume chart was led by FCS Software with trades of over 16 million shares, followed by Sanraa Media (15.40 million), IFCI (10.01 million) and Karuturi Global (6.80 million).