Sensex drifts lower in listless session

The Indian market ended another insipid day with modest losses on Wednesday as weak Asian and European markets weighed on the sentiment. US stocks had also closed in the red on Tuesday.

"The benchmark stock indices continued to remain rangebound and are unable to find any specific direction after last week’s strong rally. Globally too, equities have struggled this week as the dollar has strengthened against major rivals", says Amar Ambani, Head of Research (India Private Clients) - IIFL.



Consumer Durables, Auto and IT stocks were among the major gainers. Even the Mid-Cap and Small-Cap stocks were in demand. However, FMCG and Banking stocks were among the major laggards.

The BSE Sensex lost 57 points to close at 20,875 an the NSE Nifty slipped 26 points to close at 6,275.

The BSE Consumer Durables index was the top gainer the index gained 4.5%, followed by BSE Auto index it gained 1.2%, the BSE IT index gained 0.6% and BSE Teck index gained 0.2%.

On the other hand, the BSE FMCG index lost 1% and BSE Capital Goods lost 0.8%.

The broader indices ended with modest gains, the BSE Mid-Cap index ended higher by 0.3% and BSE Small-Cap index added 0.8%.

The European indices were trading with in the red, the DAX in Germany was down 0.3%, the CAC 40 index in France was down 0.5% and FTSE index was down 0.2%.

Outside the frontline indices, the big gainers in the broader market were VIP Industries, Geodesic, Titan Industries, Lakshmi Overseas Industries, Sundram Fasteners, 3I Infotech, BF Utilities, GE Shippings, Bata India, and Glodyne Tech.

On the other hand, losers included Nestle, Thermax, Divis Labs and Jain Irrigation.

Provogue India, Colgate Palmolive, Rain Commodities, Nestle India, Chambal Fertilizers,Unites Breweries, BL Kashyap and SKS Microfinance.

Crompton Greaves, Titan Inds, Elantas Beck, Dr Reddys Lab, EID Parry, Empee Sugars, Lupin, National Perox, Cummins India, Abott India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, Glaxosmithkl Cons, Tilak Finance, Priyadarshini Spn, Ravinay Trad, Orient Abr Krishna Deep, Unichem Lab, JB Chemicals have touched new highs.

While Glory Polyfilms, BS Transcomm and TECHNO ELE have touched new lows.