Markets finally took a breather with the Sensex snapping its nine-day winning streak on profit taking after sharp gains in the previous few sessions which had lifted the benchmark share indices to successive record highs.
Further, investors are awaiting the outcome of the European Central Bank meeting later today.
The 30-share Sensex lost 54 points at end at 27,086 and 50-share Nifty shed 19 points to close at 8,096.
Rupee: The Indian rupee was trading at 60.41, slightly higher from Wednesday's close of 60.48 tracking gains in Asian currencies versus the US dollar.
However, weak domestic markets are likely to cap upside gains.
Further, outcome of the ECB meeting later today and US non-farm payroll data is awaited on Friday.
Global Markets:
Asian markets ended lower as investors booked profits at higher levels. Japanese shares came off their day's highs and ended lower after factoring in Bank of Japan's stance to maitain its monetary stimulus and encouraging view on the economy.
However, China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.8 per cent while Hang Seng lost 0.3 per cent and Straits Times ended 0.3 per cent lower.
European shares were trading mixed ahead of the European Central Bank's meeting. The FTSE-100 was up 0.1 per cent while CAC-40 and DAX were down 0.4-0.6 per cent.
Sectors & Stocks:
On the sectoral front, BSE Realty index was the top loser down 4.4 per cent followed by Metal, Capital Goods, Bankex, Oil and Gas, Power, IT and Auto among others. However, Consumer Durables, Healthcare and FMCG indices ended their session in the positive territory up between 0.1-0.5 per cent.
In the capital goods segment, BHEL ended 4.7 per cent lower on 'sell' call by a foreign brokerage while L&T ended down 0.6 per cent.
IT stocks which had gained post upbeat US economic data witnessed profit taking. TCS, Wipro and Infosys lost between 0.4-0.8 per cent.
In the financial segment, banks which had earlier gained on firm economic data also witnessed profit taking in today’s trade. ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and SBI lost between 0.3-0.5 per cent.
Among the index heavyweights Tata Motors and Reliance Industries were down 0.8-2 per cent each.
Metal and power stocks ended down on concerns that the Supreme Court may deallocate mines alloted a few years ago. Hindalco and Tata Steel ended down between 2.8- 4 per cent. Jindal Steel lost nearly 4 per cent.
DLF plunged nearly 9 per cent after the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday set aside the Haryana government’s decision to allot 350 acres of land in Wazirabad, Gurgaon, Cipla ended 0.3 per cent lower ahead of its AGM.
On the flip side, select auto stocks ended in the positive territory on fresh buying. Bajaj Auto and Hero Motocorp gained between 2-4 per cent each.
In the FMCG space, ITC and HUL gained between 0.4-0.6 per cent. NTPC, HDFC, Bharti Airtel and Axis Bank were some of the notable names which ended up between 1-2 per cent each.
Among other shares, TVS Motor gained 9.4 per cent at Rs 224 following a 'buy' rating on the stock by global brokerage BofA Merrill Lynch which raised its target price to Rs 235 because of strong business prospects and valuations at current levels are seen attractive to its peers.
Shares of Jammu & Kashmir Bank gained 7 per cent at Rs 169 in an otherwise subdued market after the stock was quoted ex-stock split from today.
JP Associates has slumped by over 8 per cent at Rs 38 after Jaypee Infra Ventures sold over 13 million shares on the National Stock Exchange. In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap index ended up 0.1 per cent and BSE Small-cap index ended down 0.4 per cent.
Market breadth ended weak with 1,715 losers and 1,246 gainers on the BSE.
