Sensex, Nifty retreat from record highs on profit taking

By Indulal PM

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex and Nifty fell on Tuesday from their record highs in the previous session as investors chose to book profits in recent outperformers such as Oil and Natural Gas Corp.

Profit-booking was seen in most of the recent outperformers such as banks, while metal stocks were under pressure ahead of the Supreme Court's verdict on "illegal" coal mines.

However, sentiment remained upbeat as overseas investors bought shares worth $193 million on Monday, continuing their buying streak for a sixth straight session, exchange and regulatory data showed. They have pumped $13.8 billion into Indian equities so far this year.

Regional markets were muted with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan down 0.1 percent.

"FIIs are giving one-sided support. There could be some profit booking, but overall sentiment remains positive," said Suresh Parmar, head, institutional equities at KJMC Capital Markets.

"We advise clients to add quality stocks to their portfolios. It's a buy-on-dips market."

The benchmark BSE Sensex closed 0.2 percent lower at 27,265.32 after hitting an all-time high of 27,354.99 on Monday.

The broader Nifty ended 0.26 percent down at 8,152.95 after surging to a record high of 8,180.20 in the previous session.

Market heavyweights were under selling pressure. ONGC, which gained 2.62 percent in the previous session, closed 1.3 percent lower, while ICICI Bank fell 1.4 percent after a gain of 1.3 percent on Monday.

Metal stocks were under pressure, with Hindalco Industries down 0.3 percent, ahead of the Supreme Court's hearing on "illegal" coal block allocations later in the day.

Other mining stocks also fell. Sesa Sterlite Ltd declined 0.9 percent, while NMDC Ltd closed 1.3 percent lower.

Investors took profits in some large-cap infrastructure stocks such as Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T) . L&T ended 1.5 percent lower, but is up 49.9 percent this year. Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd closed down 1.2 percent, but has gained 25 percent so far this year.

Among gainers, ABB India Ltd rose 3.6 percent after parent ABB Ltd said it would buy back $4 billion shares.

Tyre companies also gained, adding to sharp spikes on Monday, on weak natural rubber prices that are at multi-year lows. Apollo Tyres Ltd gained 0.7 percent.

(Reporting by Indulal PM; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)