The markets ended lower despite showing sharp recovery in last one hour of trade. The benchmark indices had opened with sharp gap down on account of weak trend across the globe, as the National Bureau of Economic Research or NBER confirmed that the US has been in recession since December 2007, and manufacturing in the US contracted the most since 1982. Both indices had remained extremely under pressure. However, the recovery started after 2 pm, as the beaten down stocks like FMCG, cement, select telecom, power, capital goods and realty stocks witnessed buying interest. Some recovery in Euroepan indices also helped our markets a bit.

But a conntinous sell-off in oil, technology, banking, auto and metal stocks kept markets under pressure throughout the session and did not give a chance to turn in green. The Nifty also closed back above 2650 level.

The 30-share BSE Sensex shut shop at 8,739.24, down 100.63 points or 1.14% from previous close. It recovered nearly 272 points from an intraday low of 8,467.43. The 50-share NSE Nifty fell 25.10 points or 0.94%, to settle at 2657.80, after showing recovery of 87.1 points from day's low of 2570.70.

BSE Midcap Index lost 41.14 points or 1.45%, to close at 2,805.33 and Small Cap Index was down 45.32 points or 1.37% at 3,252.41.

Volumes remained low today as well; total traded turnover stood at Rs 43,672.73 crore. This includes Rs 7,602.67 crore from NSE cash segment, Rs 33,471.48 crore from NSE F&O and the balance Rs 2,598.58 crore from BSE cash segment.

Top losers were M&M, Maruti Suzuki, TCS, L&T, Sterlite Industries, Tata Motors, HCL Tech and Suzlon Energy. However, Reliance Infrastructure, Bharti Airtel, Jaiprakash Associates, NTPC, ITC, Idea Cellular, Unitech and Zee Entertainment were gainers.

BSE Auto Index was down by 67.58 points or 3.04% at 2,154.75. M&M, Amtek Auto, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and Bharat Forge plunged 3-8%.

Oil & Gas Index plunged 135.50 points or 2.45% to 5,397.87. Reliance Industries was down 3.1% and ONGC fell 2.6%.

Technology stocks like HCL Tech, TCS, Infosys, Satyam and Wipro tumbled 0.4-7%. BSE IT Index fell 57.41 points or 2.27% to 2,476.28.

Capital Goods Index lost 123.92 points or 2.02% to 6,021.49. L&T lost 3.46% while BHEL gained 0.33%.

Metal stocks like JSL, Jindal Saw, JSW Steel, Sterlite Industries, Tata Steel, SAIL and NALCO were losers. Index went down 46.97 points or 1.08% to 4,304.90.

Bankex fell 29.55 points or 0.66% to 4,436.27. HDFC Bank, SBI, PNB and ICICI Bank lost 0.7-1.56%.

Telecom stocks like Tata Communication, MTNL and Reliance Communication plummeted 2-4%. However, Idea Cellular and Bharti Airtel fell 3-7%.

Pharma stocks like Dishman Pharma, Cipla, Sun Pharma, Wockhardt and Glenmark were losers. Healthcare Index lost 6.87 points or 0.24% to 2,833.37.

Among the midcap stocks, IL&FS Investsmart, Dalmia Cement, Kalpataru Power, Spice Communication and Amtek Auto went down 8-14%.

In the small cap space, Temptation Food, Kewal Kiran, Nucleus Software and Arihant Found fell 11-15%.

However, BSE Realty Index was up 31.62 points or 2.14% at 1,509.27. Unitech, Indiabulls Real Estate and DLF rose 2-7%.

FMCG stocks like GlaxoSmith Consumer, ITC, Britannia, Tata Tea and HUL were gainers. Index gained 19.62 points or 1.04% at 1,903.71.

Power Index rose 7.57 points or 0.48% to 1,577.63. Reliance Infrastructure and NTPC gained 2.5-5%.

Market breadth was weak due to negative broader indices. About 1048 shares advanced while 1705 shares declined. Nearly 445 shares remained unchanged.

Asian markets ended sharply lower. Nikkei plunged 6.35% at close, as Bank of Japan, BoJ board has voted unanimously to keep policy rate steady and it will inject unlimited funds collateralised by Corporate debt. Japanese Yen strengthened against US dollar, which worries exporters.

Hang Seng fell 4.98%. Straits Times, Kospi and Taiwan tumbled 3-3.6%. Jakarta lost 2.6% and Shanghai fell 0.26%.