By IANS,
Mumbai : Indian equities markets were back in the green a little before noon after slipping into red soon on opening, but were still volatile, with most analysts expecting equities to fluctuate in the run-up to the poll results Saturday.
The 30 scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which had opened at 11,997.37 points, was ruling at 11,748.94 points, 65.95 points or 0.56 percent higher than its previous close Monday.
Similarly, the S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) was ruling at 3,568.85 points, 0.4 percent higher than its last close.
Broader market indices were trading in the negative terrain, with the BSE midcap index shedding 0.76 percent, while the BSE smallcap index was down 0.29 percent.
Of the 13 sectoral indices on the BSE, the indices for metal, auto and consumer durable stocks lost the most, while IT stocks gained.
The market breadth was negative with 836 stocks advancing, 1,092 declining and 82 remaining unchanged.
Top gainers included Infosys, up 2.95 percent at Rs.1,559.15; Wipro, up 2.45 percent at Rs.357.95; HDFC Bank, up 1.72 percent at Rs.1,164.50, and Reliance Communications, up 1.39 percent at Rs.222.
Losers around this time included Tata Steel, down 3.26 percent at Rs.262.80; ACC, down 3.22 percent at Rs.573.45; Tata Motors, down 2.45 percent at Rs.250.60, and L&T, down 2.01 percent at Rs.943.55.
In other Asian markets, profit booking continued on the Nikkei, a key index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, as it slipped into the red towards the closing bell to lose 138 points at 9,313.98 points.
The Hang Seng, the primary index of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, was also ruling in negative terrain 148.88 points down at 16,939.07 points.
In the US markets, the blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average closed down 1.8 percent, or 156 points, to 8,419, while the broader Standard and Poor’s 500-stock was down 2.2 percent, or 20 points, to 909.
The technology-heavy Nasdaq fell 0.5 percent, or eight points, to 1,731.