Indian equity markets that opened in the red Monday morning witnessed a choppy trade but managed a smart recovery in the second half of trading and closed in the green.

The markets opened lower following international cues but later a benchmark index recovered more than 300 points from the day's low.

However, important sectoral indices like realty, automobiles, capitals goods and public sector undertakings remained in the red though those of metals and capital goods recovered.

The 30-share Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) opened at 16,641.45 points and notched a high of 16,897.36 before closing at 16,860.90 points. It gained 123.83 points or 0.74 percent at day's close.

The S and amp;P CNX Nifty index on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), which opened at 4,981.00 points, closed at 5,012.65 after touching the day's high at 5,021.75 points.

At close, it registered a gain of 27.05 points or 0.60 percent.

The BSE Midcap index, which closed at 6,945.91 points, went down 46.75 points or 0.67 percent.

Similarly, the BSE Smallcap index, which closed at 8,403.56 points, went down 102.08 points or 1.20 percent.

On BSE, the market breadth was negative marked by low trading volumes. A total of 920 shares advanced, 1,777 shares declined and 50 shares remained unchanged.

All other major Asian markets, barring Kospi, also closed in the green.

The top gainers of the day included Ranbaxy Labs at Rs.494.20, up 5.27 percent; Satyam at Rs.489.55, up 3.41 percent; HDFC at Rs.2698.50, up 2.03 percent; and ITC at Rs.223.80, up 2.52 percent.

The top losers included Grasim at Rs.2,255.55, down 3.61 percent; Jaiprakash Associates at Rs.246.40, down 1.95 percent; ACC at Rs.701.65, down 1.45 percent and DLF at Rs.621.90, down 1.35 percent.

Subscribe to daily press alerts via email »