Sensex ends lower by 33 pts in range-bound trade

The Bombay Stock Exchange barometer Sensex ended lower by 32.92 points to 19,982.88 points in a range bound trade. The benchmark had lost 44 points yesterday.

Similarly, the broad based National Stock Exchange index Nifty fell by 4.40 points to 5,980, after shuttling between 6,006.45 and 5,964.60 points.

Investors adjusting their portfolios and a divergent trend in global markets ahead of the year-end festive holidays mainly influenced the trading sentiment, marketmen said.

In the wake of a slow-down in foreign funds activity, the domestic funds refrained from enlarging their positions in a worthwhile manner amid a rise in food inflation to double digits at 12.13 per cent for the week ended December 11 from 9.46 per cent in the previous week.

The Asian stock markets were mixed with traders winding down for the Christmas and New Year holidays, while an upgrade the US economic growth provided some cheer. The Japanese markets were closed for a public holiday.

The consumer durable sector index suffered the most losing 1.11 per cent to 5,998.37 followed by the metal sector index which lost 0.97 per cent to 17,040.92. The realty sector index lost 0.89 per cent to 2,743.87 and capital goods sector index by 0.88 per cent to 15,093.12.

The down-trend was capped following a rise in bank, IT, healthcare and teck stocks.
State Bank of India rose by 0.15 per cent to Rs 2,749.15 and HDFC Bank by 0.41 per cent to Rs 2,188.40 on expectations the growing economy might help demand for fresh loans.

The IT major and second most-heaviest Infosys Technology rose by 0.77 per cent to Rs 3,362.50 on hopes the rise in global economy would boost revenue of software exporting companies.

Helped by a firm crude oil prices, market leader Reliance Industries gained 0.10 per cent to Rs 1,058.15. The oil prices climbed near a two-year high on an unexpected surge in global demand that has fueled the biggest drop in the US crude stockpiles in more than a decade.

As the investors interest shifted to front-runner fundamentally strong stocks, the midcap sector index declined by 0.23 per cent to 7,608.33 and smallcap index by 0.13 per cent to 9,324.54.