Markets end in red despite recovery; ITC, Bharti, Gail gain

At 15.33 hrs IST, the benchmark index Nifty ended on a flat note after a gap down opening of 100 points. The US markets shed 4% on Thursday on negative economic data. The Indian markets recouped its entire losses in today's trade shrugging off US markets jitters.

The Sensex was down 85.36 points or 0.52% at 16434.32, and the Nifty down 16.45 points or 0.33% at 4931.15. About 847 shares advanced, 2096 shares declined, and 352 shares were unchanged.

Auto and FMCG stocks attracted some buying in today's trade. Realty, power, pharma and capital goods witness selling pressure. The broader markets underperformed largecaps in recovery. BSE Midcap and Smallcap index lost 1.3% and 1.5% respectively. At one point of time, both indices were down close to 2.5%.

The total turnover for the day was Rs 139752.05 crore. NSE F&O contributed Rs 120722.67 crore. In the cash segment, NSE Cash recorded turnover of Rs 14697.09 crore while BSE Cash clocked Rs 4332.29 crore.

In the largecap space, ITC, Mahindra and Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Bharti Airtel, ACC and Gail were up 1.7-3.4%. NTPC, Hindalco, Grasim, HUL, Tata Power and Idea Cellular were down 2-4%.

Refinery major HPCL ended at Rs 348.00 up 0.19% from its previous close of Rs 347.35. Index heavyweight Reliance closed at Rs 995.75 down 0.42% from its previous close of Rs 999.90 while Tech major Infosys ended at Rs 2,586.15 down 0.55% from its previous close of Rs 2,600.40.