Sensex stumbles for 3rd straight day...Nifty below 5350

The Indian markets ended near day's low on Thursday, extending their losing streak into the third straight trading session. The NSE Nifty has slipped over 160 points in the last three days with the index closing below the 5350 levels for the first time since June 26.

Markets opened with a positive bias, tracking overnight gains in the US markets and positive trend in a few Asian markets. However, the upswing was very short-lived, as the index slumped in late afternoon trade and ended near day's low.



Finally, the BSE Sensex ended at 17,693 losing 247 points. It had earlier touched a day's high of 18,032 and a day's low of 17,664. It opened at 18,032. The NSE Nifty closed at 5,331 losing 5,332 points.

The decline was led by Realty, Auto, FMCG and Metals stocks. The Mid-Cap and the Small-Cap stocks witnessed continued offloading.

"Traders and investors continued to be jittery as GDP growth forecast has been scaled down. Even monsoon has been below par and is likely to be below long-term average. Politically, the Centre is under attack for a number of issues from corruption to economic management.The RBI is no mood to relent even as it seeks support from New Delhi.

Globally, the US has managed to avert a default but worries prevail over a possible downgrade. The debt crisis continues to hound the eurozone.Friday's US jobs data will be on global investors' radar for fresh cues on the state of the world's largest economy," says Amar Ambani, Head of Research, IIFL - India Private Clients.