The markets broke its five-day winning streak yesterday amid lacklustre trades. The Sensex barely moved in a range of 90-odd points, and finally settled with a loss of 55 points at 17,691.
Jaiprakash Associates and Maruti tumbled over 4% each. DLF, SBI, Sterlite, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, Grasim, BHEL and Reliance declined 1-2% each.
On the other hand, ONGC rallied 2.8% to Rs 1,044. Reliance Infrastructure moved up 2%. ITC and Mahindra & Mahindra were the other major gainers.
The Sensex seems headed towards the 17,500-17,585 level before staging a pull back. Today, the index is likely to find support around 17,655-17,635, while face resistance around 17,725-17,745.
The NSE Nifty moved in a range of 29 points, and ended with a marginal loss of 14 points at 5,308.
The Nifty continues to hold its head high slightly above its short-term moving average. The 20-days simple daily moving average of the index is at 5,298. The medium-term (50-days) moving average is at 5,143.
A break of 5,300, could see the index slip to 5,240-5,250 in the next two trading days.