Sensex ends on a weak note

The Sensex ended on a weak note dragged by IT, metal, teck, oil & gas and FMCG stocks. It opened with a loss of 110.19 points, at 15,812.15 on Monday tracking discouraging global cues. It continued to trade in the red throughout the day. In the noon trades, the index plunged further on aggressive selling seen in frontliners. Even opening of negative European market also supported the sentiment. Finally, it closed sharply lower touching a low of 15,589.80.

BSE Midcap and Smallcap index rose 0.33% and 0.51% respectively.

India`s Q1 GDP for FY`09-10 stands at 6.1% vs 5.8% (the last quarter of previous financial year).

Among the sectoral indices, BSE IT, Metal and Teck dropped over 2% each, Oil & gas and Capital goods down over 1%, while Realty rose 2.91%, Auto up 1.09%.

European stocks slipped after the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index traded at its most expensive level relative to earnings in six years. French benchmark index CAC 40 fell 23.16 points, or 0.63%, to trade 3,669.98 Germany`s benchmark index DAX decreased 35.07 points, or 0.64%, to trade at 5,482.32. UK`s benchmark index FTSE 100 is not trading today.

The Sensex ended the day with a loss of 255.70 points, or 1.61% at 15,666.64 after touching a high of 15,821.35 and a low of 15,589.80. The broad-based NSE Nifty fell 70.25 points, or 1.48% at 4,662.10 after hitting a high of 4,730.85 and a low of 4,635.

Major gainers in the 30-share index were M&M (4.15%), DLF (2.67%), NTPC (1.19%), Maruti Suzuki (1.03%), Grasim Industries (0.90%), and HDFC Bank (0.85%).

On the other hand, Tata Steel (3.26%), Reliance Industries (3.20%), Hindalco (3.11%), Sterlite Industries (2.97%), L&T (2.91%), and Infosys (2.53%) were the major losers in the Sensex.

Overall market breadth was positive. Out of the total 2,880 stocks traded at BSE, 1,648 advanced, 1,154 declined while 78 remained unchanged.