Stock markets halt 6-day rally; Nifty ends below 26,000-mark on profit-taking

Snapping the six-day winning streak, benchmark Sensex dropped by nearly 278 points and the Nifty closed below the 26,000-mark due to profit-taking in IT, metal and capital goods shares amid a weak trend in global markets.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined by 277.93 points or 0.33 per cent to settle at 84,673.02. During the day, it dropped 392.59 points or 0.46 per cent to 84,558.36.

The 50-share NSE Nifty dipped 103.40 points or 0.40 per cent to 25,910.05.

Among Sensex firms, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Eternal, Adani Ports, Hindustan Unilever and Bharat Electronics were the major laggards.

However, Bharti Airtel, Axis Bank, Asian Paints and Titan were among the gainers.

The BSE small-cap gauge dropped 0.85 per cent and midcap index declined 0.70 per cent.

Among sectoral indices, realty tanked 1.98 per cent, followed by BSE Focused IT (1.16 per cent), IT (1.15 per cent), metal (1.07 per cent), commodities (0.95 per cent) and industrials (0.93 per cent).

Consumer Durables index emerged as the only gainer.

A total of 2,740 stocks declined while 1,463 advanced and 138 remained unchanged on the BSE.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai's SSE Composite index, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index settled sharply lower.