Sensex falls for 6th day, Nifty below 5600

The BSE Sensex fell for the sixth straight day on the back of a sudden selloff in the last hour of trade on Friday. The Nifty shed over 1 per cent to close below the key support of 5,600. The BSE Sensex ended 162 points lower at 18,309 while the Nifty declined 57 points to 5,574. Indian stock markets have been under pressure tracking weak global cues and poor domestic macro data. Earlier this week, factory output data for September indicated a contraction in industrial activity. The trade deficit in October widened to $21 billion, India's worst on record according to Credit Suisse. The headline inflation eased to an eight-month low in October, but RBI governor today said that inflation rate is still high, suggesting that the bank is unlikely to loosen monetary conditions anytime soon to support faltering growth. The Winter Session of Parliament, starting next week, may throw up some cues for the markets now. A weakness in global markets weighed on the domestic shares. Asian markets mostly ended lower while European stocks also traded in the red.