Sensex falls on profit-taking after five-day rally

Reuters Market Eye - The BSE Sensex falls on profit-taking, after gaining nearly 10 percent in a five-day winning streak on the back of strong foreign flows.

The BSE Sensex is down 0.4 percent, while the Nifty falls 0.3 percent.

Among private banks, ICICI Bank Ltd falls 2 percent while HDFC Bank Ltd is down 1.9 percent on profit-taking.

Jaiprakash Associates Ltd falls 3.6 percent after earlier rising as much as 2.1 percent on profit-taking after announcing a cement unit sale to UltraTech Cement Ltd on Wednesday.

Shares in Housing Development Finance Corp Ltd are off lows down 0.4 percent after falling as much as 2.3 percent as FTSE increased its "investability weight" to 100 percent from 74 percent in its global equity index series, as per its website.

However, shares in IDFC Ltd gain 5 percent after the Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday lifted restrictions placed on foreign investors purchasing shares of the company as their shareholding in IDFC fell below the prescribed limit.

(Reporting by Abhishek Vishnoi)