Markets end lower on the last day of 2008 Markets closed lower on the last trading day of 2008.

31 Dec 2008 | 17:57
Markets end lower on the last day of 2008 Markets closed lower on the last trading day of 2008.

Markets end lower on the last day of 2008 Markets closed lower on the last trading day of 2008. After trading in a range during the morning session, the bulls gave in as selling pressure pulled the indices lower in the afternoon session. While the Sensex closed 68.85pts or 0.71% lower at 9,647.31, the Nifty lost 20.35pts or 0.68% to close at 2959.2. The broad market indices however bucked the weakness as the BSE Midcap and Small Cap indices were up by 0.59% and 1.31% respectively. Market breadth was positive as A/D ratio was 1.6:1 on the BSE. NSE cash turnover was lower at Rs.8,947crs. Vs. Rs.9005.1crs. on Tuesday.

The sectoral indices ended on a mixed note. The biggest gainers were the BSE Consumer Durables, Auto and Healthcare indices. The biggest losers were the BSE Bankex, Oil and Gas and Realty indices. The top gainers from the BSE-30 were Satyam, Ranbaxy, Tata Motors and Hindalco. The top losers were HDFC, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Sterlite.

Though the markets have closed lower, the short term trend continues to remain up with a reversal at 2900 on the Nifty. We recommend traders buying any stocks to keep a Nifty stop loss below 2900.