Markets pause after record highs; ICICI Bank, Infosys down 1%

Markets are seen heading lower on profit taking after they hit fresh record highs on Monday

Benchmark share indices were seen heading lower on Tueday, amid weak European cues, as investors turned cautious and booked profits at higher levels after they hit fresh record highs on Monday.

At 2:35PM, the 30-share Sensex was down 88 points at 27,232 and the 50-share Nifty was trading 30 points lower at 8,143.

The Indian rupee continued to trade weak after the dollar firmed up against major Asian currencies and dollar sales by corporates waned. The currency was trading at Rs 60.54 compared to its previous close of Rs 60.29.

Asian shares were trading mixed with Japanese shares ending higher led by exporter shares after the yen weakened to hit a six-year low against the US dollar, but energy shares witnessed profit taking amid weak global crude oil prices. The Nikkei ended up 0.3% at 15,749. Shares in Hong Kong were trading marginally lower and the benchmark Hang Seng was down 0.2%. However, Shanghai Composite and Straits Times were trading higher by 0.3% each.

European shares pared early gains and were trading marginally lower. The CAC-40, DAX and FTSE-100 were trading 0.1-0.2% lower.

The BSE IT index was the top loser down 0.9% followed by Oil and Gas, Bankex, capital Goods and Realty among others.

IT shares were trading lower on profit taking after recent gains. Infosys, TCS and Wipro were down 0.1-1.1% each.

In the oil and gas segment, ONGC which had gained yesterday after Bank of America Merrill Lynch upgraded the stock to "buy" from "neutral" has dipped  1.6% today on profit taking. Reliance Industries was down 0.7%.

L&T is down nearly 1%. The stock had gained after the company said its wholly owned subsidiary L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering (LTHE)  has secured new orders in the offshore and onshore segments worth Rs 1920 crore from domestic oil and gas majors. BHEL was down 1%.

Hindalco was down 0.6% ahead of the SC verdict later today on the Mahan Coal block allocated to the company eight years ago to feed its aluminium plant in Madhya Pradesh.

Bharti Airtel has extended its yesterday’s rally and is up 0.6% after the company reached a consensus on the sale of its telecom towers in Nigeria for more than $1 billion within the next three weeks.

Cipla has gained 1.6% after the company on Monday announced commercial collaboration with UK-based S&D Pharma in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Dr Reddy’s Lab has gained 0.4%.

Tata Motors was up nearly 1%. The company launched the special edition Land Rover Freelander 2. The premium SUV carries a price tag of Rs. 44.41 lakh.

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap index was up 0.6% and the Small-cap index was up 0.3%.

Market breadth was strong with 1,570 gainers and 1,330 losers on the BSE.