Markets end in red day before Union Budget presentation; Sensex below 36,000-mark, Nifty above 11,000 level

Mumbai: The BSE Sensex slipped 69 points to close below the key 36,000-mark today following offloading of bets by retail investors and fresh capital outflows by foreign funds amid mixed global cues. Investors remained on the sidelines ahead of the Budget to be presented on Thursday. The 30-share index remained in the negative zone for the major part of the session and lost 68.71 points, or 0.19 percent to finish at 35,965.02. Intra-day, it shuttled between 35,818.41 and 36,050.69. The index had retreated from its lifetime high by falling 249.52 points in the previous session. The broad-based NSE Nifty hit a low of 10,979.30 intra-day, managed to end above the 11,000-level at 11,027.70, down 21.95 points, or 0.20 percent. According to provisional figures, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 105.56 crore on net basis while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) also offloaded equities to the tune of Rs 281.65 crore on Wednesday.