Although the markets opened in the green this morning, taking positive cues from the global markets, they slipped into the red soon after, and continued to trade in a negative belt until late morning, after which the markets rebounded, and began trading in a narrow positive belt.
However, near closing, the markets dipped into negative territory again, and at close, the Sensex was at 17,839 down 40 points, while the Nifty was flat, with a negative bias, at 5,365 down 9 points.
The Sensex had touched an intra-day low soon after trading commenced, dipping to 17,792, down 216 points from the day's high of 18,008, which the BSE benchmark scaled, again, during the early hours of trade.
Escalating concerns in Libya exerted pressure on crude prices, which moved above the $100 mark, after last week's relative price easing.
With a no immediate signs of tensions easing in the West Asian oil-producing nation, investors remained cautious, and a sense of diffidence enveloped markets worldwide.
Gainers on the index were led by metal stock Jindal Steel at Rs 662 up 2%, Mahindra & Mahindra at Rs 642 and Sterlite Industries at Rs 160 both up 1%.
Conversely, Hindalco Industries at Rs 191 down 3% was the top loser on the Sensex, while Hero Honda at Rs 1,434 also down 3% and Maruti Suzuki at Rs 1,131 down 2% were the other major losers.
The broader markets under-performed the benchmark marginally, as the Mid-cap and Small-cap indices, both trading in the red, were at 6,492 and 7,775 respectively, down 0.3% each.
In the mid-cap space, Gujarat Gas at Rs 376 and MVL at Rs 28, both down 6% were the top losers, while KGN Industries was down 5% at Rs 111.
Significant losers on the small-cap index were Piramal Life at Rs 111 down 10%, Sujana Towers at Rs 28 down 8%, and Arshiya International at Rs 199 down 6%.
The Healthcare index was the top sectoral gainer at 5,795 up marginally by 0.2%.
Among the major gainers in this arena were Opto Circuits at Rs 273 up 4%, followed by Lupin at Rs 405 and Cadila Healthcare at rs 760, both up 3%.
