Markets ended marginally in the green on expiry day as global peers faltered.
The Sensex opened flat and gained in morning trades on buying in metal and consumer durables stocks. However, weakness emerged in noon trades as traders took to booking profits ahead of the F&O expiry. Markets slipped into red on declining European stocks.
The Sensex touched a low of 17,633 - down 213 points from the day's high. It managed to erase some of its losses and finally ended down 26 points at 17,730.
The Nifty ended flat at 5,320.
BSE Realty index led the late fall. The index dropped nearly 1% to 3,184. Oil & gas index was down 1% at 10,307. Bankex, metal and IT indices were down as well. However, FMCG index managed to hold on to some of its gains and ended at 3,236.
Market heavyweights - ICICI Bank and Reliance - were the biggest contributors to today's fall. ICICI Bank dropped 2% to Rs 885. Reliance slipped 0.6% to Rs 1,051.
Reliance Infrastructure shed 2% at Rs 1,163. DLF and Jaiprakash Associates dropepd 1% each to Rs 288 and rs 129, respectively.
Maruti and TCS tumbled 1.5% each to Rs 1384 and Rs 775, respectively. Sterlite was down 1.3% to Rs 174.
Hindalco, NTPC, Wipro and Tata Motors were the other big losers.
Meanwhile, Hindustan Unilever gained 1.6% at Rs 271. Larsen & Toubro added 1.2% to Rs 1,787.
Hero Honda, ITC and HDFC were up nearly 1% each.
BSE market breadth remained positive through the day. Out of 2,978 stocks traded, 1,569 advanced while 1,298 declined.
VALUE TOPPERS. . .
HCL tech topped the value chart with a turnover of Rs 1,056 cr, followed by Sesa Goa (Rs 105.88 cr), Tata Steel (Rs 88.36 cr), Kotak Mahindra Bank (Rs 83.92 cr) and Reliance (Rs 54.39 cr).
