Markets end lower amid weak global cues

Markets pared early gains to end lower for the fifth straight day, amid weak European cues, on profit taking in oil, auto and FMCG shares.

The 30-share Sensex ended down 91 points at 18,793 and the 50-share Nifty ended down 36 points at 5,659.

Asian shares ended mixed and the dollar steadied, as a pick-up in Chinese factory activity and a commitment by the U.S. Federal Reserve to its aggressive stimulus stance soothed sentiment.

Nikkei gained 1.3% , Shanghai Composite rose 0.3% and Straits Times ended 0.6% up.

However, Straits Times ended lower.

The HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index for China revived to 51.7 in March from 50.4 in February, pointing towards solid but not spectacular first-quarter growth in the world's second-largest economy.

European stocks were trading lower and the euro dipped on Thursday because of concerns over Cyprus but a pick-up in Chinese factory activity and the U.S. Federal Reserve's commitment to its loose policy stance limited the losses.

Back home, on the political front, President Pranab Mukherjee today accepted the resignation of five Ministers belonging to DMK, which withdrew support to the UPA government on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue.

Realty Index was the top sectoral loser on the BSE down 2.9% followed by Power, Capital Goods, Auto, Oil and Metal indices down 1-2.4% each.

In the Sensex pack, HDFC Bank continued to witness selling pressure and was among the top losers down 3.1%

after the recent money laundering reports.

Among FMCG majors, ITC and Hindustan Unilever ended down 1-2% on profit taking after recent gains.

Auto shares such as Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, Maruti Suzuki, Hero MotoCorp ended down 1.8-4.3% each.

In the Oil segment, Reliance Industries and ONGC both ended down 1% each.

Mirroring problems in the power sector, the electrical and electronics industry has registered a fall in its revenue for the third consecutive quarter in FY13.

The industry saw a 10.5% fall during the quarter ending December 2012 compared to the corresponding period of FY12. Power related shares like Tata Power and NTPC ended down 1-4%.

From the Capital Goods segment, L&T and BHEL have fallen between 1.3-3%.

On the gaining side, Bharti Airtel has surged almost over 6%, recovering almost all its losses made in past two days on the bourses.

Among other shares, Ingersoll Rand (India) has rallied 6.8% to end at Rs 415 after the company inaugurated its greenfield manufacturing facility at the Mahindra World City, Chennai, on Wednesday.

Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL) ended down 2% at Rs 47.65, extending its last four-days fall, despite the Mumbai-based real property developer saying that it has not accepted the rating assigned by local rating agency for its non-convertible debentures (NCDs) and has submitted to review the same.

Meanwhile, BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices both ended down over 1% each.

The market breadth in BSE remains unhealthy with 1,926 shares declining and 942 shares advancing.