Sensex drifts lower...Nifty ends below 6300

After closing at news highs in the Diwali week, the bulls decided to take a breather, with the Indian indices ending in the red at the start of the week. PSU, IT and the Consumer Durables were among the major laggards. Even the broader indices were under pressure. On the other hand, Pharma and Realty stocks bucked the negative trend.



Sugar stocks turned sweeter today with stocks like Dwarikesh Sugars, Balrampur Chini and Shree Renuka Sugars among the top gainers. Select Cement and Aviation stocks also managed to attract buyers.

"The undertone was a bit cautious after last week's stellar gains and the euphoric listing of Coal India. A mixed trend across other Asian markets and subdued European markets prompted investors to pause today. In addition, people are still in the process of gauging the medium-term impact of QE2 by the Federal Reserve on the global economy", says Amar Ambani, Head of Research (India Private Clients) - IIFL.

The BSE Sensex slipped 153 points to close at 20,852. The NSE Nifty lost 39 points to end at 6,273.

Barring the BSE IT index was the top loser, the index lost 1.5%, BSE Teck index was down 1.3%, BSE PSU index was down 1.2% and BSE Consumer Durables index was down 1.2%. Among the major gainers were, BSE Pharma index was the top gainer, the index gained 0.7%, the BSE Realty index gained 0.4% and BSE Metal index gained 0.4%.

The broader indices ended flat, the BSE Mid-Cap index edged lower by 0.08% and BSE Small-Cap index ended almost unchanged.

The European indices were trading in the red, the DAX in Germany was down 0.2%, the CAC 40 index in France was down 0.3% and FTSE index was down 0.4%.

Outside the frontline indices, the big gainers in the broader market were Canara Bank, RCF, Hindustan Oil, Renuka Sug and Divis Labs. On the other hand, losers included Mphasis, Dish Tv, Apollo Tyres and Thermax.