The Sensex and the Nifty ended the session marginally in the red due to profit-taking by funds and retail investors ahead of RBI's monetary policy review tomorrow.

The 30-share BSE index Sensex ended at 26,597.11, down 29.21 points and the 50-share NSE index Nifty ended at 7,958.90, down 9.95 points.

Among BSE sectoral indices, healthcare index gained the most by 2.21 per cent, followed by IT 1.84 per cent, consumer durables 1.79 per cent and TECk 1.5 per cent. On the other hand, metal index was down 1.11 per cent, followed by FMCG 0.92 per cent and banking 0.91 per cent.

Sun Pharma, TCS, GAIL, Infosys and Hindalco were the major Sensex gainers, while the major losers were SSLT, Tata Steel, Coal India, ITC and Bajaj Auto.

A report by India Forex Advisors said: "The non-farm employment change (in the US), which plunged to a drastic dip of 142K last month, is anticipated to recover to 216K for September. The strengthening dollar, leading to weak growth in exports, countered by declining crude imports is expected to functionally weigh on the trade deficit standing at $40.5 billion for July. The European Central Bank (ECB) is expected to keep all key rates unchanged, including the minimum bid rate at 0.05 per cent. The CPI inflation is forecasted to remain unchanged at 0.3 per cent. On the UK front, construction and services PMI might climb down while the manufacturing PMI is anticipated to remain stable."

Brokers said apart from profit-booking by cautious participants ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy review tomorrow, a weak trend in global markets influenced the trading sentiment here.

They said sustained selling by foreign funds on the domestic bourses too had its negative impact.

A decline in bank shares led European stocks lower, with HSBC Holdings Plc weighing on the benchmark index amid pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. US index futures and Asian shares also dropped.

Investors awaited data on American personal spending and income, as well as pending home sales, to gauge the timing of any Federal Reserve interest rate increases.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index decreased 0.2 per cent to 341.48 at 11.04 a.m. in London, extending losses after a final reading showed euro-area economic confidence declined this month. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures lost 0.4 per cent,, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid 0.7 per cent.

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