Pivotals remain subdued

Brokers said the sentiment was weak during the earlier part of the session on profit-taking but turned slightly better at the end. The recovery was also due to short covering at lower levels for squaring up of positions on the last trading day of the current settlement. The business volume remained low and players kept away watching the political developments. Even foreign funds also remained on the sidelines.

Domestic funds were selective buyers and supported Bajaj Auto, Castrol, Larsen, MTNL andTelco which recovered from their lows. The total turnover amounted to Rs 970.62 crore. On the National Stock Exchange(NSE), share prices eased further on increased selling pressure. The NSE-50 index opened steady at 1083.30 but fell to close at 1081.45, showing a moderate fall of 1.90 over the previous close of 1083.35. The Midcap index commenced weak at 1234.65 and fell further to 1219.55. Later, it recovered to finish at 1231.15, still showing a fall of 4.15 from the previous close of 1235.30. The total turnover was Rs 1176.21 crore.