Markets closed weak on the last trading day of 2008. Selling pressure was seen in banks, oil & gas and realty stocks. However, some buying was witnessed in capital goods, auto and metal stocks. Throughout the day, the Nifty was rangebound between the 2,950 and 3,000 mark. The BSE midcap closed up 0.59% or 1.31% respectively. 2008: It was worst yearly performance by Indian markets and Sensex, Nifty end down nearly 50%. 48 out of 50 Nifty stocks posted negative returns. Worst performing sectors were realty, metal & capital goods; it were down 80%, 74% and 65% respectively. The Sensex closed down 68.85 points or 0.71% at 9647.31, and the Nifty was down 20.35 points or 0.68% at 2959.15. Markets breadth was positive: about 1643 shares have advanced, 1100 shares declined, and 460 shares are unchanged. Top losers on the Sensex are HDFC, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Sterlite Ind and Reliance. However, top gainers on the Sensex are Satyam, Ranbaxy Labs, Tata Motors, Hindalco and M&M. Manish Sonthalia of Motilal Oswal Securities feels some earnings de-growth in Q3 earnings has already been priced in by the markets. "Excluding-banks, we should be seeing an about 18% drop from the manufacturing sector. Overall, we are projecting 11% decline in Q3 profits. Thus, it maybe a good time to buy into largecaps stocks in 2009.'' The BSE bankex was down 1.29% or 71 points at 5454. Stocks like Yes Bank, Canara Bank, HDFC Bank, IDBI Bank and Federal Bank were down 2.49-3.34%. The BSE oil & gas index was down 0.98% or 59 points at 6050. Stocks like HPCL, BPCL, Reliance, Essar Oil and Reliance Petro were down 1.19-2.44%. The BSE realty index was down 0.41% or 9.39 points at 2274. Stocks like Phoenix Mills, HDIL, Puravankara Pro, Akruti City and Ansal Properties were down 1.96-4.95%. The BSE FMCG index was down 0.12% or 2.42 points at 1987. Stocks like Godrej Consumer, United Spirits, HUL and ITC closed negative. However, The BSE auto index was up 0.95% or 23 points at 2444. Stocks like Cummins, Bosch, Mah and Mah, Bharat Forge and Exide Ind ended positive. The BSE healthcare index was up 0.62% or 18.42 points at 2966. Stocks like Aurobindo Pharm, Bilcare, Dishman Pharma, Ranbaxy Labs and Ipca Labs were up 3-4% The BSE capital goods index was up 0.49% or 33 points at 6911. Stocks like Bharat Elec, Kirloskar Bros, AIA Engineering, Lakshmi Machine and Siemens were up 3-6%. The BSE power index was up 0.27% or 4.86 points ta 1829. Stocks like GVK Power, CESC, Siemens, Suzlon Energy and GMR Infra were up 2-5%. Total turnover stood at Rs 42707.76 crore. This included Rs 8936.56 crore from NSE Cash segment, Rs 30033.26 crore from NSE F&O and the balance Rs 3737.94 crore from BSE cash segment.

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