The market was sluggish and frontline stocks slipped in late trade. The Sensex closed in the negative at 19633, down 65 points while Nifty closed at 5907, up only 0.80 point, from the previous close. The BSE Midcaps and the BSE Smallcaps both closed nearly up by 3%. The market breadth was positive with advances at 949 against declines of 256 on the NSE. The Sensex gainers included Tata Steel, ACC, ONGC and Bajaj Auto while losers included Reliance Industries, ITC, RPL and HDFC Bank.

In the FMCG sector, stocks that have good long-term prospects include P&G, Godrej Consumer Products, Britannia and Marico Industries, says Jigar Lodaya of Sharekhan Securities, on NDTV Profit.

The stars of the day in the BSE Midcaps segment have been Nirma (up 32%), Vijaya Bank and CBoP (both up 15%) and Excide (up 13%), reports NDTV Profit.