The benchmark indices ended in red on the back of weak Asian cues. The Shanghai Comp ended down 6.7% and Hang Seng was down 1.8%. The Sensex closed at 15,666 down 256 points after trading between 15,589 and 15,821. The nifty shut at 4,662 down 70 points or 1.4%. In the broader markets, the BSE small cap index rose 0.5 % while the BSE midcap index advanced 0.33 %. The breadth remained positive through the day. The Sept Nifty future ended with 7 points premium. IT, metal and oil & gas stocks took a beating today.

The GDP numbers for the first quarter were announced stood at 6.1% versus growth of 5.8% in the previous quarter and 7.8% in Q1 of last year.

Movers & Shakers

The BSE IT index fell 2.3 %. Infosys, TCS, Wipro and HCL Tech fell over 2 % each.

The BSE metal index dropped 2.2 %. Welspun Gujarat, Tata Steel and Hindalco were the biggest losers in the metal space.

The stocks fell over 3 % each.

The oil & gas index on the BSE also shed 1.7 %. Reliance Ind lost 3.3% while Cairn and Ongc were up 0.5% to 1.8%.

Realty and auto counters however bucked the trend. The BSE realty index rose 2.9 %. Unitech jumped 7 % while Ackruti City was up nearly 6 %. DLF was up 2.6%.

The BSE auto index was up 1 %. Maruti was up 1% and M&M was up 4.3%.

In the Sensex pack Tata Steel was the biggest loser. The stock fell 3.2 % to Rs 424. RIL and Hindalco also lost over 3 % each.

M&M, however, was the biggest gainer in the group. The stock surged 4.1 % to Rs 860.