Sensex snaps 6-day rally, ends 190 points down; Nifty holds 8,100

Snapping a six-day winning streak, the domestic markets retreated from their highest level in nearly 1-1/2 months on Thursday on emergence of selling in FMCG, banking, capital goods and healthcare stocks while a lack of announcements on restructuring power distributors' burgeoning loans also weighed.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended the day at 26,845.81, down 190.04 points, while the broader 50-share Nifty index closed at 8,129.35, down 48.05 points.  

Market breadth remained negative with 18 of the 30 Sensex stocks ending the day in red.

GAIL , RIL and ITC were the top Sensex losers, down up to 3 per cent.  

The upcoming earnings reporting season with Infosys due to post July-September results on October 12, and macro data including inflation and industrial output next week would be key domestic data points to watch in the near term.

Meanwhile, foreign investors sold shares worth Rs 50.60 crore yesterday as per provisional data.

State-run electricity distributors, who collectively owe $66 billion, are running out of cash and struggling to repay loans, squeezing banks' ability to spur credit growth and undermining Prime Minister Modi's campaign to lure energy-hungry manufacturers to expand production.

"There is absence of buying at higher levels. The cabinet did not consider the loan restructuring proposal but they should going forward," said Deven Choksey, managing director at K R Choksey Securities.

The domestic currency hit day's high of 65.18 after opening lower by 5 paise at 65.03 per dollar against previous close of 64.98. Yesterday the rupee touched an eight-week high of 64.95.

Among Asian markets, China's Shanghai Composite hogged limelight and ended almost 3 percent higher after a gap of a week on National Day holidays. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index  closed 0.71 per cent down at 22,354.91, while Japan's Nikkei closed 0.99 per cent down, ending six straight days of gains.

The Dow Jones futures were trading 100 points down after data showed that US consumer borrowing advanced at a solid pace in August, as Americans took out more auto and student loans. The US Federal Reserve said that consumer borrowing rose by $16 billion in August, pushing the total to a fresh record of $3.47 trillion.

(With inputs from agencies)