Stock markets snap seven-day winning run; Sensex falls 132 points

Mumbai: Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty snapped their seven-day winning streak on Thursday as investors booked profits after recent sharp gains amid negative cues from Asian markets.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 132.04 points, or 0.19 per cent, to close at 69,521.69. The gauge hit the lowest intra-day level of 69,320.53. Broader index Nifty also declined 36.55 points, or 0.17 per cent, to settle at 20,901.15.

Analysts said crude oil prices in international markets failed to boost sentiment amid selling pressure from foreign institutional investors even as traders stayed on the sidelines ahead of RBI's monetary policy decision.

The Reserve Bank of India is expected to maintain the status quo on the interest rate in its bi-monthly monetary policy decision to be announced on Friday. Major laggards among Sensex constituents included Bharti Airtel, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Steel and ITC. Power Grid, UltraTech Cement, NTPC and Titan emerged as winners.

As many as 17 shares of the 30-share Sensex ended the session in red, while 23 Nifty firms closed lower. According to Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, the market took a breather as investors are in a wait-and-watch mode ahead of the monetary policy announcement. "A better-than-estimated Q2 GDP growth, ease in global oil prices and drop in global bond yield will be the silver lining for the MPC.

However, the expectation of a rise in domestic November inflation, drop in Rabi cultivation and increase in foodgrain prices will influence RBI to adopt a cautious approach in the short-term," he said.

Meanwhile, in Asian markets, Nikkei 225 declined by 1.79 per cent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was off 0.73 per cent and China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.09 per cent.

Among European markets, France's CAC 40 rose 1.53 per cent. Germany's DAX fell 0.19 per cent and London's FTSE 100 lost 0.31 per cent.

The US markets ended on a mixed note on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 registering a loss of 0.39 per cent.

On Thursday, global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 1.01 per cent higher at USD 75.05 a barrel..

On Wednesday, Sensex surged 357.59 points, or 0.52 per cent, to settle at a new record of 69,653.73. The broader index Nifty climbed 82.60 points, or 0.40 per cent, to hit its fresh peak of 20,937.70. Foreign institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 79.88 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.