Sensex ends below 20000…Infy, DLF drag

19 Oct 2010 , 04:15 PM

The Indian markets extended its losing streak to the fourth straight trading session on Tuesday. After opening with smart gains and trading in a range for majority part of the day, the benchmark indices pared all its gains in the last hour of the trading session.
 
The fall was led by the index heavyweights like Infosys, DLF, Hindalco and Tata Steel. While only Hero Honda, Cipla and ACC ended in the green. The Pharma stocks bucked the negative trend and even the Mid-Cap and the Small-Cap index ended slightly in green
 
“Investors remain cautious amid a string of important results, Coal India’s IPO and uncertain global environment. Also, FII inflows have tapered off recently, which is a cause for some concern,” says Amar Ambani, Head of Research (India Private Clients) – IIFL.
 
The BSE Sensex lost 186 points to close at 19,983. The NSE Nifty lost 49 points to close at 6,027.
 
Barring the BSE Pharma index which gained 1%, all the other BSE sectoral indices ended in the red, BSE IT index was the top loser, losing by 2.3%, followed by the BSE Realty index (down 2.2%) and BSE Teck index (down 2%).
 
However, the broader indices ended almost flat with positive bias, the BSE Mid-Cap index edged flat and BSE Small-Cap index ended marginally up by 0.2%.
 
The European indices were trading higher, the DAX in Germany was up 0.3%, the CAC 40 index in France also up 0.2% and FTSE index was flat.
 
Outside the frontline indices, the big losers in the broader market were Petronet LNG, APIL, LIC Housing and Pantaloon. On the other hand, gainers included Biocon, Jain Irrigation, Glenmark and Federal Bank.