The Sensex and the Nifty ended the session marginally in the red in the absence of any directional cues.

The 30-share BSE index Sensex was down 16.05 points or 0.07 per cent at 22,343.45 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was down 1.7 points or 0.03 per cent at 6,692.65.

Barring metal, FMCG and TECk, all other BSE sectoral indices ended in the red. Among them, realty and consumer durables indices fell the most by 1.37 per cent and 1.24 per cent, respectively, followed by power 0.69 per cent and banking 0.4 per cent. On the other hand, metal index was up 0.24 per cent and FMCG 0.14 per cent.

Sun Pharma, SSLT, M&M, Tata Steel and SBI were the top five Sensex gainers, while the top five losers were BHEL, Cipla, ICICI Bank,Dr Reddy's and Maruti.

A report from SMC global said: “US non-farm payroll employment rose by 192,000 jobs in March compared to economist estimates for an increase of about 200,000 jobs. At the same time, the report also showed that employment in January and February increased by 144,000 jobs and 197,000 jobs, respectively, reflecting a net upward revision of 37,000.”

European stocks declined from a six-year high as technology shares tumbled following a sell-off in America. Asian shares were also down.

Markets in China and Thailand were closed for a holiday.

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