Markets end lower as investors turn cautious

Mumbai: Benchmark stock indices, Sensex and Nifty, declined for a third straight day on Thursday as investors turned cautious ahead of release of key inflation and industrial production data. In a choppy trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined by 147.47 points or 0.25 per cent to settle at 59,958.03 as 15 of its constituents ended with losses. During the day, it declined 473.18 points or 0.78 per cent to 59,632.32. The broader NSE Nifty fell 37.50 points or 0.21 per cent to close at 17,858.20. "The domestic market continued to remain volatile as investors eagerly awaited the earnings of other IT majors after a cautious warning from TCS. FIIs continue to dump Indian equities in search of cheaper investment avenues. Uncertainties over upcoming inflation numbers at home and the US kept the domestic market unstable, even as western peers stayed optimistic," said Vinod Nair, head (research) at Geojit Financial Services.

"Markets traded volatile and ended marginally lower on the weekly expiry day. After the flat start, the tone was negative for most of the session, however, rebound in the final hours trimmed the losses," addedAjit Mishra, V-P (technical research), Religare Broking.

"The US inflation data expected tonight will be market moving," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.