Sensex, Nifty falter after a break

The Indian stock markets crumbled after a festive break outside the market. Indices slipped lower on Thursday following sharp overnight losses in the US markets amid worries of the U.S. "fiscal cliff" of potential tax hikes and spending cuts. Sell-off was not only seen in the India but across all the equity markets in Asia and Europe. Barring the Realty, Consumer Durables and the Power sectors the other major sectoral indices ended in the red. The BSE IT index was the top loser the index declined 1.8% followed by BSE Metal index was down 1.7%, BSE FMCG index was down 1.3% and BSE Auto index was down 0.9%. Even the BSE Mid-Cap index declined 0.2%. However, the BSE Small-Cap index added 0.3%. Finally, the BSE Sensex closed at 18,471, down 147 points. It had earlier touched a day's high of 18,593 and a day's low of 18,408 after opening at 18,590. The NSE Nifty ended at 5,631, down 36 points over the previous close. It earlier touched a day’s high of 5,651 and a day’s low of 5,603. It opened at 5,650. Tata Power, HUL, Coal India, Cairn, HCL Tech, Bharti Airtel, Maruti Suzuki, NTPC, BHEL, HDFC, Gail India are among gainers in Sensex and Nifty. RIL, Infosys, Wipro, TCS, ICICI Bank, ONGC, ITC, Dr Reddys Lab, SBI, Sun Pharma, Lupin, ACC, Tata Motors, Hero MotoCorp, are among losers in Sensex and Nifty. The INDIA VIX on NSE was up 4% to end at 15.53. It hit a day’s high of 16.36 and a day’s low of 13.85. Other Corporate News Mumbai is on high alert as Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray health is in a critical stage in Mumbai, according to reports. Reports stated that doctors treating the 86-year-old at his Matoshree residence says that he is on life support. Taro Pharmaceutical announced that it postponed its extraordinary general meeting of shareholders and the class meeting of holders of ordinary shares, originally scheduled for December 6, 2012, to consider the proposed merger of Taro with a subsidiary of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd Software giant Microsoft Corp has announced major change its leadership, according to reports. Reports stated that Windows chief Steven Sinofsky has resigned after launching the new Windows 8 operating system. Mahindra Finance QIP issue receives overwhelming response at over 5 times Issue priced at Rs889, at a premium over SEBI floor price. Globally, in Asia, stocks markets ended in the red, except the Nikkei index in Japan which gained by ~2% all the other Asian market ended with losses. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 1.6%, the Straits Times index in Singapore ended lower by 1.1%, the Kospi index slipped 1.25% and the Taiwan index declined 0.22%. In Europe, equity markets opened with a negative bias on Thursday amid increasing worries that U.S. may not reach a compromise on debt negotiations. Re-elected president Barack Obama reiterated in a press conference that taxes on the wealthy must go up. The FTSE index in UK was down 0.4%, the CAC index in France was slightly lower by 0.22% and the DAX index in Germany was trading lower by 0.50%.