The markets have dipped into the red in the late afternoon, possibly on the back of the losses incurred by the Shanghai bourses and an uneasy opening across Europe. The Sensex is quoting at   20051, lower by 22 points and the Nifty is at 6001, down nine points. The midcap index is at 7622, lower by four points and the smallcap index is at 9379, up 25 points.

China's key stock index ended down 1.9%, wiping out an earlier 1.5% gain, as investors dumped property, financial and energy shares on concerns about their longer-term outlook after a short-lived relief rally in the morning. The other Asian markets also had a mixed closing; the Nikkei ended higher by nearly a percent, while the Hang Seng shed about half a percent. China's central bank had raised the interest rates by a 25 basis on Christmas Day, moving sooner than many analysts and market participants had expected. And the European markets have had an edgy start, with the CAC and DAX slipping by more than a percent each.  The FTSE is, however, trading marginally higher.

Tata Power has strengthened by 1% at Rs 1315 to top the gainers list on the BSE. Giving the power behemoth company are Bhel, which has hardened by 0.8% at Rs 2305 and Hero Honda, which is up 0.7% at Rs 1944. Cipla, DLF and Wipro are the other major gainers. And the debutant of the day, Ravi Kumar Distilleries is trading higher by around 20% at Rs 85. The shares of the Indian-made foreign liquor manufacturer made a handsome debut on the National Stock Exchange this morning, listing at a premium of over 12% to its issue price.

On the other hand, RCom has extended its losses and is now down 3.5% at Rs 136. Sterlite has shed 2% at Rs 181 and Bharti Airtel has lost 1.9% at Rs 341.

The market breadth is positive. Out of 2935 stocks traded on the BSE, there are 1461 advancing stocks as against 1366 declines.