Market logs first loss in five days; Nifty settles below 9,900-mark

Mumbai: The last four days of winning momentum of stocks came to a halt on Thursday as the Sensex ended with losses and the Nifty settled below the crucial 9,900 as investors jostled to take money off the table.

Worries about sustained capital outflows by foreign funds remained.

The BSE 30-share index after a positive opening stretched further to 31,772.41, but could not hold on to it facing the selling pressure. It hit a low of 31,562.25 before settling down 79.68 points, or 0.25 per cent, at 31,592.03.

The gauge, which rose 174 points yesterday after the Reserve Bank decided to hold rates in line with expectations, had gained 512 points in the previous four sessions.

Reflecting the volatile trend, the NSE Nifty after shuttling between 9,945.95 and 9,881.855, closed down 26.20 points, or 0.26 per cent, at 9,888.70.

Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares net Rs 584.88 crore while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) dumped equities of Rs 632.14 crore yesterday, showed provisional data.

Meanwhile, services sector activity expanded for the first time in three months in September. The Nikkei India Services PMI stood at 50.7 in September -- from 47.5 in August -- a reading that pointed to a slight pace of expansion.