The European markets were trading in the negative while the Indian market closed slightly weak. The Sensex closed at 19529, down 73 points and Nifty at 5858, down 6 points from the previous close. But it was the CNX Midcaps and Smallcaps that had a good day and both closed up over 1.5%. The BSE Consumer Durables Index was up 6%, BSE Metal Index up 3.2%, BSE Capital Goods up 1.7% and BSE Auto Index up 1.6% while BSE Bankex Index was down 0.63%. The market breadth was positive with advances at 783 against declines of 421 on the NSE. Top NSE gainers included SAIL, Tata Steel, Tata Power and GAIL while losers included Reliance Energy, VSNL, Unitech and RPL.

Nifty has strong support at 5750 on the downside and 5950 on the upside, says Rahul Mohinder, technical analyst, on CNBC TV18. The market seems to be in a consolidation stage and will see a slow and steady buildup with newer highs in January, he says. The undertone remains bullish and the market may see another roundup of good midcap performances