Nifty ends below 10,600 ahead of RBI policy outcome

The NSE Nifty declined for the third straight session, down by 35 points to 10,593.15 as investors turned cautious ahead of RBI's policy outcome tomorrow.

Also, market sentiment remained subdued after a survey showed services activity in May shrank for the first time in three months.

The seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Services Business Activity Index fell to 49.6 in May from 51.4 in April, indicating a marginal contraction in business activity, following a two-month period of growth.

In the overseas markets, most European shares were trading higher. Asian markets reversed early losses and settled higher.

Back home, the 50-share NSE Nifty ended at 10,593.15, down 35.35 points, or 0.33 per cent. The index hit a high of 10,633.15 and a low of 10,550.90 during the day.

It saw an intra-day movement of about 82.25 points.

On the sectoral front, media fell by 2.06 per cent followed by infra 1.57 per cent, IT 1.37 per cent, pharma 1.07 per cent, realty 1.05 per cent, metal 0.58 per cent, PSU bank 0.38 per cent, auto 0.33 per cent, private bank 0.21 per cent, FMCG 0.17 per cent and bank 0.02 per cent.

On the other hand, energy and financial services shares rose by 0.25 per cent and 0.08 per cent, respectively.

Major index gainers were Cipla, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finserv and HDFC Bank.

Losers included, Zeel, Bharti Airtel, Coal India, Indiabulls Housing Finance, Titan, Yes Bank, Infosys and Dr Reddy's.

The market breadth remained negative. A total of 308 scrips advanced, 1,533 declined and 50 remained unchanged. Total securities that have hit their price band were 355.

A total of 15,096.91 lakh shares changed hands in 1,19,47,253 trades. The market capitalisation of the listed firms on the NSE stood at Rs 1,42,73,557.47 crore.