Markets end lower on growth concerns

Markets ended 1% down on Thursday as disappointing third quarter GDP growth, the slowest pace in nearly three years, weighed on investor sentiment. The losses were led by financial and index heavyweights.

The BSE 30-share Sensex ended lower by 169 points at 17,584 and the NSE 50-share Nifty ended at 5,340, down 45 points.

The Asian markets closed in the red. The Nikkei slipped 16 points to close at 9,707 levels, Hang Seng slipped 292 points to shut shop at 21,387 levels. Taiwan and Shanghai also closed marginally lower.

Back home, India's January exports rose 10.1% to $25.347 billion, while imports rose 20.3% to $40.1 billion, leaving a trade deficit of $14.8 billion, the government said today.

DLF was the top loser among the Sensex stocks, down 5.2% to Rs 215 after Angel Broking came out with a sell rating on this stock.

Mahindra & Mahindra also shed nearly 4% to end at Rs 682 after India's largest utility vehicles and tractor maker, has reported 4% month-on-month (m-o-m) drop in its February sales at 43,087 units from 44,717 units sold during January 2012. The company had sold total 33,378 units in the month of February 2011.

Capital goods majors BHEL and L&T ended lower on failure to get orders from NTPC. NTPC, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, Wipro, Jindal Steel, Bajaj Auto,Tata Motors, SBI were also among the prominent Sensex laggards, down 1-3% each.

Reliance Industries ended lower after recent gains on concerns of falling gas output. ONGC ended down after the stock received bids for only 292.2 million shares against an offer of 427.7 million shares by the government at a floor price of Rs 290 a share.

On the other hand, Maruti Suzuki jumped 5% to Rs 1,314 after on reporting highest car sales numbers in past nine months for the month of February. The country's largest car maker has reported a 6.5% year-on-year rise in February car sales at 118,949 units as compared to 111,645 units in the same month last year.

Hindalco, HDFC, Tata Power, Coal India and TCS were also among the notable gainers.

Realty, capital goods, banking and oil & gas stocks were among the worst hit in trades today. The BSE Realty index shed 3.3% or 64 points to close at 1,891. DB Realty, HDIL, Sobha Developers, Oberoi Realty, Prestige Estates and Anant Raj Industries were among the top losers from this space.

Capital Goods index ended lower by 1.6% at 10,258. Alstom Projects, AIA Engineering, Bharat Electricals, Lakshmi Machine Works, Thermax, Havells India and Praj Industries were among the prominent laggards from this sector.

Bankex, Oil & Gas, Auto, Metal, PSU, IT, Consumer Durables and FMCG indices also ended lower by 0.5-1.2% each.

The healthcare stocks witnessed some amount of buying and the BSE Healthcare index ended higher by 0.2% or 16 points at 6,352.

Among the individual stocks, Suzlon Energy ended higher by 11.5% at Rs 30, galloping 18% from day's low of Rs 25.60, after its REpower unit secured a loan of 750 million euros (approx $1 billion) from banks headed by BayernLB, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft and Deutsche Bank AG.

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) ended higher 4.6% at Rs 34 on reports that the state-run telecom company is in the process of appointing a consultant for formulating the future plan of action for its CDMA business. The plan may include closing down its operations in the segment.

The broader markets ended marginally lower. The BSE mid-cap index ended at 6,353, down 34 points and the small-cap index ended at 6,834, down 26 points.

The overall breadth was negative as 1,580 stocks declined while 1,264 advanced.