After witnessing good gains in past four trading sessions, the local markets ran out of steam to extend their gains for fifth day and finished in the red on Thursday. Markets started the day in the flat territory however, they failed to hold their neck in the green for longer period and slipped into the red within few minutes of early trade. The bulls never looked convinced to make a comeback during the entire session except for some short covering in the last hour of trade which helped the key indices to pare some of their losses. Uncertainties over continuation of stimulus package dampened investors' sentiments in trade. The food inflation has shown some signs of cooling off, at the same time Consumer Confidence index -- complied by CNBC-TV18 Boston Analytics -- has slipped to 67.2 in December 2009 from 70.7 in November 2009. This is the first time in four months when the index has shown sign of exhaustion. Software and technology stocks remained in subdued mood as the rupee surged to its new 15-month high against the dollar. Auto stocks were the other major losers during the session. Energy giant Reliance Industries, which has the highest weight on the BSE's Sensex, rallied for second consecutive day which kept the downside under check in trade. Finally, the BSE Sensex contracted 85.41 points or 0.48% to end at 17,615.72, while the S&P CNX Nifty declined 18.70 points or 0.35% to close at 5263.10.

The US markets notched modest gains on Thursday, though it was once again a mixed close as Nasdaq could not manage a positive ending. The trade remained cautious a day ahead of the monthly jobs data. It was the upbeat sales figures by many retailers during the holiday and their increased forecasts that led to the rise in indices. The government reported initial jobless claims rose less than expected. Markets are trading cautious as traders looked to Friday's jobs report from the Labor Department which Analysts are expecting to shrink from the figures in November. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 33.18 points, or 0.31%, to 10,606.86. The broader S&P 500 index added 4.55, or 0.40%, to 1,141.69. It was the highest close for both indices since October 1, 2008. While the Nasdaq closed marginally lower by 1.04 points, or 0.05%, to 2,300.05.

Crude prices got a halt to its 10 days long rally on Thursday as the dollar gained strength against other currencies, the other concern that contributed to the decline in crude prices was the worries about China's demand and growth as it took steps to limit lending and prevent its economy from overheating. Benchmark crude for February delivery fell 52 cents to settle at $82.66 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange as the dollar rebounded. In London, Brent crude for February delivery fell 38 cents to settle at $81.51 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

The Indian rupee continued its rally on Thursday and soared to its 15 month high of 45.55, its strongest performance since September 23. The repeat decline in dollar against Euro and Yen provided the supportive cue and later dollar selling by the foreign banks took the domestic currency to its new high. Though, some dollar demand was witnessed during the last hours from the importers that halted the further rise. Finally the rupee closed at 45.67, 19 paise higher compared to its Tuesday's close of 45.86.

The FII on Thursday were the net buyers in both equity as well as debt segments. In equity segment the gross buying was of Rs 3431.60 crore against gross sell of Rs 2592.50 crore, while in the debt segment the gross purchase was of Rs 2394.80 crore with gross sales of Rs 326.00 crore.

The US markets managed to garner some gain on Thursday, though the trade remained cautious but the retailers' upbeat sales figures helped investors to regain some confidence. The Asian markets have made a mixed start and though most of the indices are trading in green Seoul and Chinese markets are trading lower, China's central bank raised the interest rate on its three-month bills to fight inflation, this has surprised the markets. The domestic markets finally entered the negative terrain in previous trading; fatigue was appearing on the indices after a long rally, though some recovery can be expected today on positive global cues, IT sector too might get some recovery as the dollar has strengthened overseas.

Support and Resistance: S&P CNX Nifty and BSE Sensex

                                                          Nifty Top volumes

• Suzlon Energy has got an order from KRBL to set up a 8.1 MW wind turbine generator(s) plant in the state of Tamil Nadu.
• Tata Steel sees a slow recovery at its European unit Corus due to slow recovery in the western economies.
• Tata Motors has unleashed three new global launches at the Auto Expo 2010, one is the Tata Aria, other is Magic Iris and the third one is Tata Venture.
• Reliance Industries may sell existing shares to institutions to raise about Rs 26.75 billion over the next few week.
• Tata Consultancy Services has inducted Former Finance Secretary Vijay Kelkar as its Independent Director.

The project is for four laning of...