Also, despite the markets closing in red, the breadth remained positive and the turnover in the cash segment on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) stood at approximately Rs 11,600 crore, even higher than the turnover on Tuesday. The average daily turnover in the cash segment of NSE for December has been just over Rs 14,000 crore. The NSE's derivatives segment reported a turnover of over Rs 79,000 crore, up 7% compared to previous day. The average daily turnover December has been close to Rs 70,000 crore.
The 30-share Sensex of the BSE lost 57.74 points, or 0.33%, to end the day at 17,343.82. The broader S&P CNX Nifty of the NSE was down 18.50 points, or 0.36%, to close at 5,169.45.
Motilal Oswal Securities MD Raamdeo Agrawal said, "Overall, 2009 was a great year for the equity market, which surged from 8,000 levels to 17,000 levels in a span of just 8-10 months. The Indian equity markets are likely to continue their winning rally in the next few months."
KR Choksey Securities MD Deven Choksey said, "The benchmark indices were range-bound and due to it being the year end there was not much activity in the market. In the coming days we are likely to see the markets going northwards on the back of strong inflows from the foreign funds."