It was another profit booking day for the benchmark indices. Selling was seen in infrastructure (capital goods + power), telecom, realty, auto, financials and technology counters. The sell-off was seen because of unwinding of long positions ahead of the weekend. The markets witnessed volatility throughout the session and ended lower.

The IIP (Index of Industrial Production) data was encouraging as it came in at 1.4% for the month of April as against negative 0.7% in March but 1.3% contraction in output of capital goods exerted pressure on the markets in the later part of the day. Both the indices were in a positive terrain for first part of the day. Finally after struggling, the Nifty closed below the 4600 mark.

Sonal Varma of Nomura Financial said the positive IIP number was a pleasant surprise. Varma said industrial output would improve ahead. ''We see stabilization in the second quarter and a slight pickup in the third quarter of 2009 and a more durable pickup from the October-December quarter onwards,'' Varma said, adding that as a result of the bottoming out that has happened, the chances of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cutting rates this year to boost growth looked slim.

The 30-share BSE Sensex closed 173.53 points or 1.13% lower at 15,237.94, after seeing an intraday high of 15,600.30 and low of 15,174.28. The 50-share NSE Nifty touched a high/low of 4693.20 and 4566.15, before closing at 4583.40, down 1.17% or 54.30 points.

Bharti, DLF, SBI, NTPC, Reliance Communication, BHEL, L&T, Wipro, HDFC, SAIL, Infosys, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank dragged the frontline indices while buying in Reliance Industries, Reliance Petroleum, ONGC, Tata Steel, Sterlite and Nalco capped the losses.

Sectoral indices

The BSE Realty Index underperformed other indices, declined 2.5%. HDIL and DLF slipped 5.8% each. Orbit Corporation, Puravankara Projects, Parsvnath, Omaxe and Akruti City were down 2.6-4.3%.

Auto stocks remained under pressure; Ashok Leyland, Apollo Tyres, M&M, Tata Motors and Bharat Forge fell 2-4.8%. Maruti Suzuki and Hero Honda were down 0.9% and 0.31%, respectively.

Telecom was another sector that put pressure on the markets along with infrastructure and financials. In the telecom pack, MTNL, Reliance Communication, Idea Cellular, Tata Communication, Tata Teleservices and Bharti Airtel lost 2.8-5.4%.

Among the capital goods stocks, Punj Lloyd, L&T, BHEL, Suzlon Energy and Siemens declined 1.4-5%. In the power pack, GVK Power, Torrent Power, NTPC, Tata Power and Reliance Infrastructure fell 1-6%.

Financials like SBI, Axis Bank, PNB, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC and Reliance Capital were down 1-3.5%.

Selling was also seen in technology space; where in Tech Mahindra tumbled 6.63%. Wipro, TCS and Infosys slipped 1.3-3%.

Among the healthcare stocks, Ranbaxy Labs, Sun Pharma Advanced, Dr Reddys Labs, Biocon, Dishman Pharma and Glenmark declined 2.4-6%. In the FMCG space, United Spirits, Tata Tea, Britannia, United Breweries, HUL and ITC were down 0.7-3.5%.

There was a mixed trend in metals and oil & gas stocks. In the metal space, JSW Steel shot up 11.3%. Hindustan Zinc, Sesa Goa and Jindal Steel were up 5-7.8%. Sterlite, NALCO and Tata Steel gained 0.8-2.3%. However, JSL, SAIL and Hindalco lost 1-3%.

In the oil & gas pack, Reliance Industries and Reliance Petroleum went up 2.2-2.5%. ONGC was up 0.80%. However, Cairn India slipped 4.59% and BPCL was down 2.06%.

Market breadth was negative; about 756 shares advanced while 2095 shares declined on the BSE. Nearly 294 shares remained unchanged.

Among the broader indices, the BSE Midcap Index fell 112.55 points or 2.10%, to 5,235.03 and the Smallcap Index lost 2.21% or 135.78 points, to settle at 6,014.66.

In the midcap space, Fortis Healthcare, Rei Agro, Lanco Infratech, HCC, Max India and Andhra Bank tumbled 6.7-8%. In the smallcap segment, Ciba India, Henkel India, WABCO-TVS, Revathi CP, IOL Netcom and Fem Care Pharma plunged 8-11.5%.

Volumes were higher as compared to previous session; total traded turnover stood at Rs 1,07,004.36 crore as against Rs 94,928.21 crore on Thursday. This comprised of Rs 23,680.56 crore from NSE cash segment, Rs 75,452.41 crore from NSE F&O and the balance Rs 7,871.39 crore from BSE cash segment.

Global cues

Crude July contract was trading at USD 71.45 a barrel, down USD 1.23 on the NYMEX.

At the time of closing of Indain equities, European markets like the FTSE was down 9 points, to 4,452. The CAC fell 5 points, to 3,329 and the DAX lost 18 points, to 5,088.

Among the US futures, the Dow Jones futures fell just 7 points, to 8,692 and the Nasdaq futures were flat at 1490.

Asian markets ended mixed. Shanghai lost 1.91% and Taiwan Weighted tumbled 1.81%. Straits Times declined 0.2%. However, Nikkei gained 1.55% and Hang Seng was up 0.52%. Kospi rose 0.65%.