Sensex slips 340 pts from new high, ends 77 pts up; TCS drops 6%, RIL 0.6%

Indian equity indices scaled fresh lifetime highs on Monday, with the Nifty50 index vaulting above the 18,000-mark for the first time. Healthy buying in bank, auto, and realty stocks supported the sentiment on Dalal Street despite tepid global cues. However, last hour profit-booking in index heavyweight Reliance Industries (down 0.6 per cent) and IT stocks, including TCS (down 6.3 per cent), Tech M, Infosys, and HCL Tech pulled back the indices from day's high.

By close, the S&P BSE Sensex stood at 60,136 levels, up 77 points or 0.13 per cent, while the 50-share Nifty index was at 17,946, up 51 points or 0.28 per cent. Earlier today, the benchmarks had hit fresh record highs of 60,476 and 18,042, respectively.

In the broader market, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices ended up to 0.6 per cent higher at 25,978 and 29,506 levels, respectively. These indices, too, hit new peaks of 26,103 and 29,652.5, respectively, in the intra-day trade.

On the sectoral front, the Nifty Bank index hit a new liftime high of 38,495 in the intra-day trade before closing 1.4 per cent higher at 38,294 levels. The Nifty Auto index was the biggest gainer of the day, up 2.7 per cent, while the Nifty IT index declined the most, down over 3 per cent.

Overall, more than 1,950 stocks advanced on the BSE today relative to nearly 1,500 stocks that fell on the exchange. Volatility index, India VIX, meanwhile, closed 2.8 per cent higher.