Markets pause after record breaking spree

Investors are booking profits after sharp gains recently which pushed benchmark indices to record highs

Benchmark share indices are seen taking a breather as investors booked profits after sharp gains in the previous few session which pushed the benchmark indices to record highs

At 2:25PM, the 30-share Sensex was down 140 points at 26,999 and 50-share Nifty was down 45 points at 8,070.

The Indian rupee was trading at 60.41, slightly higher from Wednesday's close of 60.48 tracking gains in Asian currencies versus the US dollar. However, weak domestic markets are likely to cap upside gains. Further, outcome of the ECB meeting later today and US non-farm payroll data is awaited on Friday.

Asian markets were trading lower as investors booked profits at higher levels. Japanese shares came off their day's highs and ended lower after factoring in Bank of Japan's stanec to maitain its monetary stimulus and encouraging view on the economy. However, China's Shanghai Composite was up 0.8% while Hang Seng was down 0.1% and Straits Times was down 0.3%.

European shares were trading mixed ahead of the European Central Bank's meeting. The FTSE-100 was up 0.1% while CAC-40 and DAX were down 0.4-0.6%.

The BSE Realty index was the top loser down 4.5% followed by Metal, Bankex, Oil and Gas, Power, IT and Auto among others.

IT stocks which had gained post upbeat US economic data witnessed profit taking, TCS, Infosys and Wipro were down 0.4-0.8%.

Among the index heavyweights ICICI Bank and Reliance Ind were down 0.8-1.3% each.

Metal and power stocks were down on concerns that the Supreme Court may deallocate mines alloted a few years ago. Hindalco and Tata Steel were down over 3% each. Jindal Steel was down 4%.

DLF has plunged by over 9% after the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday set aside the Haryana government’s decision to allot 350 acres of land in Wazirabad, Gurgaon,

Cipla was marginally down ahead of its AGM.

However, HDFC and ITC were among the top Sensex gainers up 0.3-1.4% each.

Among other shares, TVS Motor was up 12% at Rs 230 following a 'buy' rating on the stock by global brokerage BofA Merrill Lynch which raised its target price to Rs 235 because of strong business prospects and valuations at current levels are seen attractive to its peers.

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap index was down 0.2% and BSE Small-cap index was down 0.7%.

Market breadth was weak with 1,795 losers and 1,033 gainers on the BSE.