Sensex dips in choppy trade...Nifty below 5550

The Indian markets ended in red for the second straight trading session on Thursday as investors turned cautious amid a few disappointing corporate results. The NSE Nifty closed below the 5550 level amid weak cues from the international equity markets.

Indian markets opened lower but quickly recovered to hit day's high in the early trades. However, the main indices were unable to hold on to their gains despite the Finance Minister stating that the pessimism over the economy was overdone.



Drop in india’s Inflation numbers was also unable to bring any cheer on Dalal Street. The annual rate of inflation in the food space decreased for the second week of July while inflation in the fuel group remained unchanged.

Annual inflation in the Food Articles group declined to 7.58% in the week ended July 9, from 8.31% in the previous week,

The BSE Sensex ended at 18,436, falling 66 points. It had earlier touched a day's high of 18,567 and a day's low of 18,415. It opened at 18,514.

The NSE Nifty closed at 5,541, dropping 25 points. It touched an intraday high of 5,579 and a day’s low of 5,532. It opened at 5,554.

Heavy offloading was seen in Consumer Durables, Realty, Banking and Pharma stocks. The BSE Mid-Cap and the BSE Small-Cap indices saw some selling pressure as well.

"The undertone was nervous due to continuing trepidation among the global investors over the lingering credit crisis in the eurozone and the political impasse in the US over budget talks. Weaker-than-expected PMI reports from China and eurozone also weighed on the sentiment.

Back home, market participants ignored the drop in food inflation as they expect the RBI to hike policy rates by another 25 bps at its next meeting on July 26. Also, the Finance Ministry says that inflation is unlikely to come down sharply before the end of the year," says Amar Ambani, Head of Research, IIFL - India Private Clients.