Slippery street…Nifty ends below 5,250

Indian stocks slipped on Wednesday, erasing some of the previous session's gains, as equities worldwide turned lower after a weaker than expected service sector report in the US reinforced a growing view that the global recovery is in danger of losing momentum.



The Oil & Gas, Metals and the Banking stocks were among the major losers. While, bucking the negative trend were the Consumer Durables and select telecom stocks.

"The domestic mood was cautious as investors await key results and economic data due next week", says Amar Ambani Vice President Research IIFL.

The BSE Sensex slipped 143 points to end at 17,471 while the NSE Nifty fell 48 points to end at 5,240.

Among the 30-components of Sensex, major losers were Tata Motors, Sterlite Industries, ONGC, Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank. On the other hand, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communication, TCS and BHEL were among the major gainers.

Outside the frontline indices, the big losers in the broader market were REI Agro, Glaxosmith Cons, Yes Bank and MMTC. On the other hand, gainers included Indian Bank, Pantaloon Retail, Marico, RCF and Jubilant Org.

US stocks ended higher on Tuesday after seven straight days of declines but the key indices on Wall Street finished off session highs post the ISM report on non-manufacturing industry. It may be recalled that recent reports on manufacturing and service industries for countries ranging from China to the US have raised doubts over the pace of the global economic recovery.

Asian stocks were mostly down with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index lower for the first time in three days. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.7% to 113.11 as of 5:26 p.m. in Tokyo, following a two-day, 1.9% increase. The gauge has slumped 12% from its high this year on April 15.

Two stocks declined for each that rose in the MSCI Asia Pacific Index today. The Asian benchmark retreated 3.4% last week, the most since the period ended May 21.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average fell 0.6%, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.5%. South Korea's Kospi shed 0.6% and Taiwan's Taiex slipped 0.2%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index sank 1.1%.

China's Shanghai Composite Index ended 0.5% higher after enduring a choppy trading session.

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index declined 0.4% in the US. The broader index pared a 2% gain to close 0.5% higher yesterday after the Institute for Supply Management’s index of non-manufacturing businesses in June fell more than expected to a four-month low from May.

The ISM index of non-manufacturing businesses, which covers 90% of the US economy, fell to 53.8 in June, less than the median forecast of 55.

European shares declined, with miners pacing the decline, as updates from building materials group CRH and retailer Marks & Spencer weighed on the sentiment.

After closing Tuesday with a 2.6% gain, the Stoxx Europe 600 index lost 0.8% to 240.88. The UK's FTSE 100 index was down 1.2% at 4,904, while the German DAX index also dropped 1.2% to 5,869, and the French CAC-40 index shed 1.5% to 3,371.