The markets witnessed a deep cut after consolidation for the past few days and ended on a very weak note. All the major sectoral indices ended in red Reality and Banking counters being the worst hit. The Sensex closed at 17,998 down 227 points and the Nifty was at 5,408 down 69 points after making an intra-day high of 5,495. The Mid cap and Small cap indices were down by 1.10% and 1.49% respectively. The breadth of the market was negative and the total turnover recorded at Rs.1,08,030 Cr. The Sept future ended with 4 point discount. Sensex for the weak was down by 400 points while Nifty was down by 120 points.

The benchmark indices opened in the green amidst positive trend across Asian markets and overnight gains in US markets. The markets continued to trade in the positive zone in the morning trade, thereafter, as FMCG and banking stocks witnessed strong buying momentum. However, indices remained range bound at the onset of the afternoon trade, but soon extended morning gains following firm opening of the European markets. A sharp slide was witnessed in late afternoon trade as markets turned volatile and traded in the red ahead of the expiry of August futures. Finally, markets closed marginally higher with the Sensex and Nifty closing up 0.3% each. BSE mid-cap ended lower by 0.1%, while BSE small-cap was up 0.1%. Among the front liners, NTPC, DLF, ITC, SBI and HDFC gained 1-3%, while RCOM, Sterlite, RIL, HUL and JP Associates lost 0-3%. Among mid caps, Eicher Motors, Essar Shipping, Indusind Bank, Astrazeneca Pharma and FDC gained 3-14%, while State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Travanacore, State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, MVL and Wockhardt declined 4-10%.