The markets closed in the red for the second consecutive day just managing to keep afloat above the 18,000 level.

At the close, the Sensex was down 207 points at 18,137, up 53 points from the day's low of 18,084 which was registered in the afternnon trades.

The Nifty on the other hand lost 60 points to close the day at 5,138.

In the broader markets, the smallcap and the midcap indices are down 0.6% each outperforming as compared to the BSE benchmark index, down 1.1%

The benchmark indices had a muted opening and were trading in a sideways manner throughout most of the session, raising hopes of a relatively stable trading day after the nearly 200-pts fall (Sensex) witnessed on Monday.

But the result announcement of State

Bank of India proved to be ominous.

Thereafter, the sensex dropped to touch the day's low of 18,084, down 351 points from the day's high.

In results that were below street expectations, the country's largest public sector bank reported an 8.9% dip in its consolidated net profit at Rs 10,684.9 crore (Rs 106.84 billion) for the year ended March 31, 2011.

For the year-ago period, the net profit was Rs 11,733.8 crore (Rs 117.33 billion).

The stock has slid by nearly 8% at Rs 2412.