Know how the Indian stocks snapped a 4-day advance at the markets today

Indian stocks snapped a 4-day advance on Tuesday as traders booked partial profit on leading blue chips after some stocks rose sharply in a market quoting at 13-month lows. Stocks in the metals, pharma and auto sectors faced the brunt of selling.

The Nifty dropped 43 points to end the day at 7,829 points, near the day's low. Tata Steel, Vedanta, Tata Motors, Larsen and Ambuja Cement were the top losers while Tech Mahindra, Hind Unilever, Sun Pharma, ITC and Cairn ended with gains. The Advance-Decline Ratio was a negative 12/38 on the Index.

Axis Bank, Larsen and Wockhardt were the top traded stocks on the National Stock Exchange.

All broader indices suffered modest losses. The CNX 100, CNX 200 and CNX 500 Indices dropped 0.6 percent each. The CNX Midcap and the CNX Small Cap Indices ended lower as well. Sector-specific profit booking was visible too with metals, pharma and realty indices beating the retreat. Modest gains were seen on the IT and the FMCG indices, pointing to the defensive nature of the market.

The Sensex slipped 150 points to 25,705 on the Bombay Stock Exchange with 7 companies gaining compared with 23 that fell on the Index. Bajaj Auto, BHEL, Dr. Reddy's and Hindalco were among the top losers while ITC, NTPC and Maruti inched up in trade.

The broader market favoured the bears with 1,522 shares slipping below Monday's close compared with 1,098 that gained ground.

The mood was sombre on the futures and options segment with 4 stocks losing ground versus every one that rose. Ajanta Pharma, Bata and Britannia futures edged up while Adani Enterprises and JP Associates futures slipped in trade.

The top volume buzzers list played host to a rare, fundamentally strong stock: Procter & Gamble on Tuesday. Other notable shares on this list were Max India, Godawari Power and Sadbhav Engineering.

(Image credits: Indiatimes)