Markets ended lower yesterday after trading in a range. While the BSE Sensex finally closed 50 pts or 0.3% lower at 17,053, the Nifty lost 23 pts or 0.4% to close at 5102. Broad market indices too ended lower as the BSE Midcap and Small Cap indices shed 0.7% each. Market breadth was negative as the A/D ratio was 0.6:1 on the BSE. NSE cash turnover was Rs.13,109crs. Vs. Rs.15,198crs. on Monday.

Most of the sectoral indices ended lower. The top losers were the BSE Metal, Oil and Gas, Realty and Auto indices. The top gainers were the BSE IT and Consumer Durables indices. The top gainers from the BSE 30 were HDFC, HDFC Bank, Maruti and Sun Pharma. The top losers were JP Associates, Tata Motors, Hindalco and Hero Honda.

As per the provisional figures on Tuesday, the FIIs were net buyers of Rs. 2,173 crores in the cash markets, while they were net sellers of Rs. 282 crores in the F&O markets. DIIs were net sellers of Rs. 172 crores in the cash markets.

Stocks managed gains on Tuesday at the end of a choppy session as investors mulled the latest corporate deal and profit news on the anniversary of the bear-market bottom.

Dow Jones added nearly 12 points, or 0.1%. S&P 500 added less than two points. Both closed at 6-week highs. Nasdaq gained 8 points, or 0.4%, ending at a fresh 18-month high.

Merck and Sanofi-Aventis said they are combining their animal health care businesses to create one of the biggest in the world. The combined business will have about a 29% market share in a global market worth around $19 billion..

Northrop Grumman dropped out of the competition late Monday to build tanker planes for the U.S. Air Force, leaving Boeing the only bidder in a contract that could be worth as much as $50 billion.

The Indian ADRs ended on a mixed note with Satyam falling by 5.1% while Tata Motors rose by 2.3%. ICICI Bank and Wirpo rose by 0.3% each while Infosys fell by 0.7%. Tata Communications fell by 0.5% while HDFC Bank ended 0.1% up.

Among the Latin American markets, the Brazilian markets ended higher by 1.5% while the Mexican markets ended flat.

Today, the Asian indices are trading mixed. Hang Seng and Nikkei are trading flat while Strait Times is trading 0.5% up. Shanghai is up 0.2% while Kospi and Taiwan are 0.2% down each.

Among the metal prices, Nickel and Copper ended ended lower by 2.9% and 2% respectively while Zinc fell by 1.5%. Copper closed 1.2% lower.

U.S. light crude oil for April delivery dipped 38 cents to settle at $81.49 a barrel.

COMEX gold for May delivery fell $1.70 to settle at $1,122.90 per ounce.

Today, we expect the Indian Markets to open on a flat note and trade in a narrow range with a negative bias. We could witness some intra day corrections. IT could do well today while Metals could underperform.