Markets take a breather after hitting 20K

The markets took a breather after the stupendous gains of the past fortnight that catapulted the Sensex past the 20K mark in the previous session.

Capping an uncharacteristically volatile day of trade, the Sensex swung in a range of around 300 points before surrendering the 20k pedestal and ending at 19,942, lower by 60 points and the Nifty ended at 5991, down 18 points.

Meanwhile, Asian markets had a quiet session of trade, with most indices registering modest gains with the exception of the Japanese bourses.

But European markets have opened lower as the latest Federal Reserve's assessment led to lingering concerns over the pace of the global economic recovery.

The FTSE, CAC and DAX have shed nearly a percent each. Wall Street had ended flat overnight after the Fed hinted at further steps to spur the economy. Investors had hoped that with recent improvements in economic data, the central bank would issue a more upbeat outlook.

The Dow was down six points at 10,746 and Nasdaq lost five points at 2,350. And trading in Dow futures suggests a 0.3-0.4% fall on Wall Street on opening bell.

Jaiprakash Associates shed 3% at rs 120. Cairn India dropped 2.5% to Rs 334.

Reliance Communications, Larsen & Toubro, TCS, HCL Teh and Reliance were down over 2% each.

DLF, Infosys, Unitech, Ranbaxy and Reliance Infrastrcuture were some of the othet losers. BPCL, Cipla, Tata Motors and Hindalco were also in red.

However, Maruti Suzuki surged 3.5% to Rs 1,462. ABB, HDFC and SBI gained around 1.5% each.

Siemens jumped 1.3% to Rs 791. FMCG stocks - ITC and Hindustan Unilever - added over 1% each to Rs 175 and Rs 297, respectively.

Sterlite, Tata Power, IDFC, Kotak Bank, Wipro, Sail and Hero Honda also advanced around 1% each in trades.

In the broader markets, the smallcap index closed at 10,196, down 0.2% while the midcap index in sync with the benchmark index shut shop at 0.3% in the negative.

In the smallcap space, the gainers were JVL Agro Industries up 13%, BL Kashyap adding nearly 10%, Kajaria Ceramics gaining 9% and Gitanjali Gems up by nearly 9%.

In the midcap area, the movers were JSL Stainless up 16%, Triveni Engineering adding 7%, Punj Lloyd, Hotel Leela and Gammon India gaining 5% each.

Market breadth was negative. Of the total 3077 stocks traded on the BSE, 1822 stocks had declined while 1113 had advanced.