India shares snapped a more than 1,000-point rally over the last six sessions to close lower on Thursday, with losses in financials outweighing gains in information technology and metal stocks.
The Nifty ended down 0.32% at 10,029.10, while the Sensex slipped 0.38% to 33,980.70. The Nifty 50 has risen 4.7% so far this week, after a similar rally last week.
"The surge in the past few sessions was pretty high and we can expect some more consolidation in the near term," said Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Financial Services Ltd.
"We are also in the last phase of fourth-quarter results, for which the outlook is also not positive. This is a small correction in the bear rally and will continue for some time."
The Nifty banking index fell 2.63%, but was still up 5.7% for the week, following a 11.7% surge last week.
Among stocks, Housing Development Finance Corp. Ltd and HDFC Bank Ltd were the top drags on the Nifty 50 index, ending down 3.89% and 2.01%, respectively.
A drop in the Nifty Realty index added to the overall losses. Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal asked developers on Wednesday to cut prices and offload inventory instead of waiting for the market to recover.
Meanwhile, the Nifty IT index closed 1.85% higher, while the metals index gained 1%. Vedanta Ltd was the top gainer in Nifty 50 index, ending up nearly 8%.
