Markets end in red, Nifty slips below 11,500

New Delhi: After a positive start to the day, markets ended in red on Wednesday.

The BSE Sensex fell 139.15 points or 0.36 percent to 38,094.26 while the NSE Nifty also came below 11,500 level by dropping 38.20 points or 0.33 percent to 11,445.05.

During mid-session, investors became very jittery ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation, anticipating what could subject of the address.

This led Sensex shed over 100 points as soon as the PM announced that India joined elite group of nations by shooting down a live satellite in space with an anti-satellite missile, markets recovered sharply.

Major losers in the Sensex pack were Asian Paint, Maruti, Tata Steel, M&M, CIL, RIL, Powergrid, Heromoto Corp, HDFC, Airtel, Tata Motors and NTPC, falling by upto 2.11 percent. Meanwhile, IndusInd Bank, Yes Bank, SBI, Bajaj Auto, HCL, Axis Bank, ONGC, Infosys, Bajaj Finance and Vedanta ended in the positive zone, rising by upto 5.67 percent.

FIIs were a net buyers worth Rs 999.02 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers to the tune of Rs 196.70 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed.