Indian markets on Tuesday declined by less than one per cent. The BSE Sensex ended the day below the 20,000-mark and closed at 19981 down 120 points (0.6 per cent). The NSE Nifty ended the day at 6048, down 34 points (0.6 per cent).
“The markets opened with a flat note but slipped to negative territory on account of profit booking and lack of positive cues from the global peers. On the international front, the European stocks were trading lower ahead of the US house sales data. The US index futures were also trading lower,” said Alex Mathews, Head Research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.
On the BSE, the realty and consumer durables sector indices was down around two per cent. The PSU index was down 1.3 per cent. The healthcare sector index skid the least by 0.5 per cent.
Pantaloon retail was the highest gainer among the BSE stocks, up 9.6 per cent. Paint stocks Berger Paints and Asian paints were up 3.2 and 2.4 per cent each. Four days back, a report by the Indian Paint Association had said that the industry is expected to grow to Rs 50,000 crore by FY-16.
Among the Sensex stocks, the top five gainers were Sun Pharma, NTPC, Jindal Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra and Bajaj auto. The top five laggards were GAIL, HUL, Hindalco, Tata Motors and SBI.