Unable to hold higher levels, indices decline during the week

04 February 2006

After last week's strong rally, most expected the Sensex to cross the 10000 mark this week. However, despite several attempts and coming as close as 6 points, the index could not reach the much anticipated level.

Markets opened strong on Monday and the Nifty crossed the 3000 mark for the first time in early trades. The Sensex also saw a new intra-day lifetime high before the markets slipped sharply in afternoon trades. This was a trend which repeated during a couple of session during the week.

Tuesday saw a recovery led by metal and engineering stocks. The Sensex and Nifty closed above 9900 and 3000 respectively for the first time ever.

The Sensex saw a high of 9994 on Wednesday before declining sharply in afternoon trades. Some of the index socks like Jet Airways and Gujarat Ambuja Cements saw heavy losses.

The trading pattern repeated on Thursday as the Sensex slipped after going past 9900 and the Nifty declined from 3000 levels. Both indices closed with marginal losses.