Markets: Late selling wipes out gains

The markets pared gains as realty, metals fell apart, however, the Reliance group stocks ended on a firm note following the Ambani brothers truce.

The Indian bourses on Monday pared all its gains and slipped into the red towards the end of the trading session owing to weakness in the metal and realty stocks.

European markets which started 1% higher later slipped into the red and turned out to be the sentiment dampner.

Had it not been for the contribution of Reliance (60 points on the Sensex), the markets would have ended in the negative territory.

The markets surged in early trades as index heavy weight Reliance Industries and Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group shares soared after the Ambani brothers truce.

They agreed to cancel all non-compete agreements and work in harmony.

The Sensex opened at 16,494 and within few minutes of trading the NSE Nifty crossed the 5,000 mark barrier. Buying was seen in almost all the sectors while the Reliance group stocks were the major gainers.

However towards the end of the trading session even though the markets fell apart and slipped into the red to 16,413, down almost around 345 points from the day's high, the Reliance group stocks managed to hold their gains.

Mukesh Ambani controlled Reliance Industries ended 2.5% higher at Rs 1,021 and Reliance Industrial Infrastructure soared over 11% to Rs 784.

Among the ADAG pack, Reliance Natural Resources zoomed 23% to Rs 55. Reliance Infrastructure (6%), Reliance Capital (4%), Reliance Communications (10%) and Reliance Power (8%), respectively.