Sensex struggles to a muted close

Traders and investors could be forgiven for feeling relieved when the closing bell range today, marking an end to what was a highly boring and anemic trading session.

Although some of the non-index counters saw better price action, the overall mood was subdued. With no major results due today, the focus was on the overseas markets, which continue to reel under the debt issues confronting the US and Eurozone economies.



Finally, the BSE Sensex ended at 18,507 slipping 54 points. It had earlier touched a day's high of 18,622 and a day's low of 18,469. It opened at 18,592. The NSE Nifty closed at 5,567 losing 14 points.

The NSE Nifty ended in the red for the second straight day amid some offloading in Auto, IT, Pharma and Telecom stocks. On the other hand, the Realty and the Consumer Durables stocks were in demand. The Mid-Cap and the Small-Cap stocks saw some buying.

Cues from the global markets were subdued. The US stocks managed modest gains on Friday, while their Asian counterparts finished in the red. Japanese markets were shut for a public holiday.

Meanwhile, the European indices declined as investors reacted to Friday's stress test results for regional banks. US stock futures were pointing to a lower opening on Wall Street.

The Nifty has been taking support at 100 DMA (5568 levels) lately. The near term trend could turn negative below 5550 with an intermediate support seen at 5440 levels.

"In the coming days, the focus will continue to be on the latest batch of quarterly earnings. Sovereign debt crisis in Eurozone and the gridlock over US budget will remain at the forefront globally aside from corporate earnings. Risk tolerance is not particularly high, which shows in gold hitting new record.

The key Indian indices may remain rangebound and choppy in the coming days, especially if India Inc. fails to up the ante on earnings and FII inflows don't pick up further," says Amar Ambani, Head of Research, IIFL - India Private Clients.

Gold rose to a record above $1,600 an ounce as debt concerns in Europe and the U.S. boosted demand for the metal as a store of value. Silver topped $40 an ounce.

The euro fell the most in almost a week against the dollar and slid to a record versus the Swiss franc amid concern that eurozone officials will fail to control the region's debt crisis at a summit later this week