Mumbai: Markets took a breather after a record-breaking run with benchmark Sensex on Friday dipping about 47 points to close at 27,868.63 on the back of modest profit-taking in metal, capital goods and power sector shares.
In a volatile session, the 30-share BSE index Sensex resumed slightly lower at 27,902.71 and moved in a range of 27,980.93 and 27,739.56 before concluding at 27,868.63, down 47.25 points or 0.17 percent. The index has risen in 5 of last 7 days.
"Local equities saw profit booking after hitting all time highs on Wednesday," said Jignesh Chaudhary, Head of Research, Veracity Broking Services.
In the previous session on Wednesday, the 30-share Sensex had ended at its all-time closing high of 27,915.88 after touching an intra-day record high of 28,010.39. Continued foreign fund inflows on government's reform push amid hopes of a rate cut by the RBI had fuelled the rally.
The CNX 50-share Nifty moved down by 1.30 points, or 0.02 percent, to finish at 8,337.00.
"...Sentiments were on the negative side in reaction to the OECD report, which lowered India's GDP growth forecast to 5.4 per cent for this year from 5.7 percent earlier. But, the downside also remained limited, tracking continuous FIIs inflow," said Jayant Manglik, President-retail distribution, Religare Securities.
Asian stocks mixed today after reports said European Central Bank President Mario Draghi vowed to take more easing steps to spark growth in the euro zone.
Key benchmark indices in Taiwan, Japan and South Korea rose 0.24 percent to 0.52 percent while indices in Hong Kong, China and Singapore fell 0.14 to 0.42 percent.
European stocks also ended narrowly mixed as investors turned their focus to the US economy before a monthly US job report. Key benchmark indices in the UK and Germany moved up by 0.15 percent to 0.67 percent while France CAC was quoting down by 0.10 percent.
Twenty two scrips out of the 30-share Sensex ended lower while only eight finished higher.
Major losers in Sensex include BHEL (3.21 percent), Gail (2.46 percent), Sesa Sterlite(2.09 percent), Hero Motocorp (1.99 percent), HDFC Bank (1.51 percent), SBI (1.43 percent), M&M (1.34 percent) and Bajaj Auto (1.22 percent).
Coal India (1.22 percent), Tata Steel (1.21 percent), Wipro (1.13 percent), Cipla (1.06 percent), Reliance Industries (1.05 percent) and TCS (1.05 percent) also logged moderate losses for the day.
However, Dr Reddy Lab rose by 4.51 percent, Sun Pharma 2.53 percent, Axis Bank 2.44 percent, HUL 1.84 percent, ONGC 1l.44 percent, Bharti Airtel 1.35 percent and Infosys 1.03 percent.
Among the S&P BSE sectoral indices, Metal dropped by 1.27 percent, followed by Capital Goods 0.72 percent, Power 0.65 percent and Auto 0.46 percent while Realty index rose by 2.43 percent and Healthcare by 2.28 percent.
"Equity valuations will remain at elevated levels because of the strong flows from both FIIs and domestic investors. The superior returns generated by equities over other asset class will also lead to higher flows in equities in future. Post-election, within equities allocation to mid-cap has been has been increased," said Rajesh Iyer, Head of Investment Advisory Services and Family Office, Kotak Wealth Management.
Total market breadth turned negative as 1,569 stocks close in the red while 1,436 finished in the green. Total turnover declined to Rs 3,948.53 crore from Rs 4,410.81 crore on Wednesday.
Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1,030.85 crore on Wednesday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.
