Sensex ends 159 points down

Profit taking after the previous session's sharp upmove and widespread protests against the government's nod to FDI in retail took the wind out of several blue chip stocks and pushed the benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty to a negative close today.

The U.S. and European markets closed on a high note on Monday amid optimism about a solution to eurozone's financial crisis, and Asian markets took cues and ended mostly higher today. However, gains in European markets were less pronounced today amid warnings about likely rating downgrades and a deep recession.

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The Sensex, which tumbled to 15,952.54, ended the day with a loss of 158.79 points or 0.98% at 16,008.34, while the Nifty settled at 4805.10, recording a loss of 46.20 points or 0.95%. The Nifty touched a low of 4787.10.

Realty, bank and oil stocks bore the brunt of selling pressure today. Consumer durables, metal, PSU and power stocks too mostly ended lower. Retail stocks plunged on profit taking. Information technology and capital goods stocks ended with moderate losses, while select automobile, FMCG and pharmaceuticals stocks edged higher.

Bharti Airtel lost about 3.8%. Jindal Steel and DLF drifted down by 3.3% and 3.15% respectively. Sterlite Industries, Reliance Industries, Tata Power and Tata Motors lost 2% - 2.4%.

ICICI Bank, HDFC, HDFC Bank, ONGC, Infosys, Maruti Suzuki, Hindalco, Jaiprakash Associates and State Bank of India ended lower by 1% - 1.8%.

Punjab National Bank, down 4.2%, was the biggest loser in the Nifty index. ACC, IDFC, Kotak Bank, Power Grid Corporation, Ambuja Cements, Axis Bank, BPCL and SAIL lost 1.5% - 3.5%.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories gained nearly 2.5%. Automobile stocks Bajaj Auto (2.1%), Mahindra & Mahindra (1.6%) and Hero Motocorp (1.3%) ended on a strong note. Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Communications, Grasim Industries, Hindustan Unilever, Cipla, BHEL and ITC also closed with smart gains.

Wockhardt, Dish TV India, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services, Indiabulls Financial Services, Gujarat State Petronet, Havells India, Zee Entertainment, Moil, Thermax, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Godrej Consumer Products, Mundra Port and Mphasis ended with strong gains.

Pantaloon Retail plunged nearly 12%. Financial Technologies, Shree Renuka Sugars, Alstom Projects, HDIL, Educomp Solutions, CESC, Canara Bank, Jet Air India, Essar Oil, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, Adani Enterprises, Punjab National Bank, Unitech and Pipavav Defence also ended with sharp losses.

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The market breadth was weak. Out of 2852 stocks traded on BSE, 1515 stocks declined and 1219 stocks posted gains, while 118 stocks ended flat.

The all party meet on FDI ended this morning without a consensus between the government and the opposition over allowing 51% FDI in multi-brand retail. The deadlock hurt sentiment to a significant extent and prompted investors to indulge in some selling. Caution ahead of release of September quarter GDP data too contributed to the decline to an extent.