The markets have closed in red after witnessing volatility throughout the day. It seemed that higher inflation numbers already factored in by the markets. It had opened with a gap up in the morning session and tried to hold but could not able to maintain that and turned choppy for the whole day. Selling seen in metal, realty, power, FMCG and some oil stocks while buying in pharma stocks. Markets have not reacted to negative European cues.

Inflation is at 7-year high now. It has increased further at 8.75% for the week ended May 31 as against 8.24% in earlier week, which is much higher than expectations of 8.32%. Inflation for the week ended April 5 revised to 7.71% versus 7.14% earlier. Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for all commodities went up by 0.6% at 231.1 and for manufactured products up 0.7%, Primary Articles up 0.9%.

Ranbaxy Laboratories has been star of the day. The stock jumped by 4.31% to close at Rs 566.90 after the news that Pfizer is exploring possibility of counter offer for Ranbaxy and sent feelers to institutions, as per sources. Institutions hold 41.28% stake the Ranbaxy Labs, in which LIC is the major holder with 15.8% stake. Japanese pharmaceutical company, Daiichi Sankyo agreed to buy entire 34.8% stake in the Ranbaxy from promoters yesterday and will increase stake to 50.1% in near term.

The Sensex settled at 15,189.62, down 60.58 points or 0.4% after hitting an intraday high of 15,337.10 and low of 15,135.81. The Nifty was hovering around 4500 mark but managed to close above that. It has hit a high/low of 4563.35 and 4491.35, before ending the day at 4517.10, down 22.25 points or 0.49%.

Amongst frontliners, Tata Communications was down -5.23%, Tata Power -4.54%, Sterlite Industries -4.12%, Suzlon Energy -3.90%, Jaiprakash Associates -4.03%, DLF -3.61%, HDFC Bank -3.45% and Hindustan Unilever -3.16% while Ranbaxy Labs was up 4.31%, ICICI Bank 3.03%, BHEL 2.79%, TCS 2.16% and Dr Reddy's Labs 3.5%.

On the weekly basis, Sensex and Nifty were down 2.5% each. Sensex has recovered nearly 500 points from week's low of 14,645.3. Amongst sectors, BSE IT Index fell 5.5% and Realty down 9%%. Suzlon crashed 12.5%, Tata Comm 12%, and ONGC & HDFC down 10% each. Ranbaxy jumped by 12% at Rs 567 as Daiichi will buy promoter stake at Rs 737 per share.

Market breadth was positive; about 1586 shares have advanced while 1349 shares declined. Nearly 184 shares remained unchanged.

BSE Realty Index was down 150.67 points or 2.59% to settle at 5,670.23 due to selling in Phoenix Mills, Indiabulls Real, DLF, Omaxe, Puravankara Proj, Peninsula Land, Parsvnath, Sobha Developer and Unitech.
 
Metal stocks like JSW Steel, Sterlite Ind, Sesa Goa, SAIL, Tata Steel and Jindal Steel ended in red. Index lost 322.72 points or 2.08% at 15,185.92.

FMCG Index went down 1.2% at 2,241.53 as weakness has seen in Godrej Consumer, HUL, Colgate, Tata Tea, ITC, Nestle and Britannia.

Power stocks like Tata Power, Reliance Infrastructure, Suzlon Energy, CESC, NTPC and Power Grid Corp have tumbled, due to which index fell 1.08% to close at 2,627.73.

Oil & Gas Index slipped 0.58% at 9,917.01 on account of selling in Essar Oil, RNRL, HPCL, Cairn India, BPCL, Reliance Industries and Petronet LNG. However, buying seen in IOC, ONGC and GAIL.

Auto stocks like Hero Honda, Maruti Suzuki, Ashok Leyland, M&M, Escorts and Cummins lost the road. Index was down 0.45% at 4,129.79.

IT Index was down by 0.22% at 4,336.06. Selling seen in Wipro, HCL Tech, Infosys and Satyam.

However, Healthcare Index remained positive through the day, closed at 4,494.02, up 1.19%. Pharma stocks like Glenmark, Aurobindo Pharma, Pfizer, Ranbaxy Labs, Dr Reddy's Labs, Aventis Pharma and Biocon have firmed up.

Bankex ended marginally up by 0.26% at 7,056.24 due to buying in ICICI Bank, Federal Bank, Canara Bank, Oriental Bank and Union Bank.

Capital Goods Index was up 0.25% at 12,019.16 on the back of buying in Bharat Elec, Punj Lloyd, BHEL, Bharat Bijlee and Kirloskar Oil.

Midcap index closed flat at 6,228.17. Small Cap Index was up 0.74% at 7,581.72. Amongst small cap stocks, ETC Networks, Vaibhav Gems, Garware Wall, KPIT Cummins, Asian Electroni, Ashiana Housing, Vikas WSP, Hind Nat Glass, Zandu Pharma, SEL Manufacturing, Eimco Elecon and Hind Org Chem have gained over 8%.

Reliance Industries, BHEL, Ranbaxy Labs, DLF and Reliance Petroleum were most active counters on the bourses.

Total turnover traded by the markets stood at Rs 58736.04 crore. This includes Rs 11899.32 crore from NSE Cash segment, Rs 41003.4 crore from NSE F&O and the balance Rs 5833.32 crore from BSE Cash segment.

Asian markets were trading lower; Shanghai was down 1.3%, Hang Seng 0.8%, Nikkei 0.12% and Straits Times 0.5%.