Power, FMCG drag Sensex to end in red

The markets opened on a positive note this morning and touched a high of 17,330 on the back of strong cues from US markets. However, it slipped from its highest in a month as investors took to profit taking. The index touched an intra-day low of 17,142 - down 188 points from the day's high.

Markets rebounded in late-noon trades, but the recovery was short-lived. The Sensex slipped into the negative zone once again and ended finally at 17,170 - down 28 points. The NSE Nifty ended flat at 5,123.

Weakness was witnessed in specific sectors like power and FMCG. The BSE power and FMCG indices dropped 0.5% each. However, the realty index managed to hold on to gains and was up 25 at 3,959. Auto and bankex were the other gainers.

INDEX SHAKERS...

HDFC dragged down the index today after announcing a dual-rate loan scheme. The stock dropped 2% to Rs 2,748.

Sun Pharma shed 3% at Rs 1,495. Reliance Infrastructure, Hindustan Unilever and BHEL dropped around 1.5% each.

Tata Steel, ACC, Mahindra & Mahindra, Reliance Copmmunications and ONGC were the other losers among the Sensex 30 stocks today.

...AND THE MOVERS

Tata Motors jumped 4% to Rs 730. Maruti Suzuki was up 1.5% at Rs 1,612.

DLF gained 3.6% at Rs 385. HDFC Bank advanced 1% to Rs 1,806.