Indices off record highs; Sensex trips 383 pts on profit-booking

Mumbai, May 21 

Benchmark indices took a U-turn from record high levels touched during early trade today, with the BSE Sensex tripping nearly 383 points and the NSE Nifty shedding over 119 points as investors hurried up to book profits.

On Monday, both the benchmarks Sensex and Nifty had seen their best single-session gains in 10 years in absolute terms — rising 1,422 and 421 points, respectively. In percentage terms, indices had logged their biggest one-day gains in six years.

Starting off on a bullish note on Tuesday, the BSE Sensex marked its lifetime high of 39,571.73 in the early trade and the NSE Nifty too hit its record high at 11,883.55 in opening deals.

However, an intense selling emerged across sectors as the session progressed after market participants sensed that exit polls euphoria over Narendra Modi-led NDA’s likely win has already been factored in appropriately.

Sectorally, auto, telecom, metal, teck and banks were among the top losers. In the Sensex pack, Tata Motors was the biggest loser, dipping 7.05%, a day after the company posted a 49% decline in March quarter profit.

Other major laggards were Maruti, IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel, Mahindra and Mahindra, PowerGrid, SBI and Tata Steel — losing as much as 3.25%.

On the other hand, RIL, HUL and Bajaj Finance ended in the green, rising up to 1.08 per cent.

After hitting an intra-day record high, the 30-share index ended 382.87 points, or 0.97%, lower at 38,969.80. The gauge hit the day’s low of 38,884.85.

In a similar movement, the broader NSE Nifty dropped 119.15 points, or 1.01%, to settle the day at 11,709.10.

The broader BSE midcap and smallcap indices ended in the red in line with benchmarks, falling up to 0.84%. — PTI