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Markets finally took a breather with the Sensex snapping its nine-day winning streak on profit taking after sharp gains in the previous few sessions which had lifted the benchmark share indices to successive record highs. Further, investors are awaiting the outcome of the European Central Bank meeting later today.
The 30-share Sensex lost 54 points to end at 27,086 and 50-share Nifty shed 19 points to close at 8,096.
Rupee:
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.
Global Markets:
Asian markets ended 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 stance to maitain its monetary stimulus and encouraging view on the economy. However, China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.8% while Hang Seng lost 0.3% and Straits Times ended 0.3% lower.
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%.
Sectors & Stocks:
On the sectoral front, BSE Realty index was the top loser down 4.4% followed by Metal, Capital Goods, Bankex, Oil and Gas, Power, IT and Auto among others. However, Consumer Durables, Healthcare and FMCG indices ended their session in the positive territory up between 0.1-0.5%.
In the capital goods segment, BHEL ended 4.7% lower on 'sell' call by a foreign brokerage while L&T ended down 0.6%.
IT stocks which had gained post upbeat US economic data witnessed profit taking. TCS, Wipro and Infosys lost between 0.4-0.8%.
In the financial segment, banks which had earlier gained on firm economic data also witnessed profit taking in today’s trade. ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and SBI lost between 0.3-0.5%.
Among the index heavyweights Tata Motors and Reliance Industries were down 0.8-2% each.
Metal and power stocks ended down on concerns that the Supreme Court may deallocate mines alloted a few years ago. Hindalco and Tata Steel ended down between 2.8- 4%. Jindal Steel lost nearly 4%.
DLF plunged nearly 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 ended 0.3% lower ahead of its AGM.
On the flip side, select auto stocks ended in the positive territory on fresh buying. Bajaj Auto and Hero Motocorp gained between 2-4% each.
In the FMCG space, ITC and HUL gained between 0.4-0.6%.
NTPC, HDFC, Bharti Airtel and Axis Bank were some of the notable names which ended up between 1-2% each.
Among other shares, TVS Motor gained 9.4% at Rs 224 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.
Shares of Jammu & Kashmir Bank gained 7% at Rs 169 in an otherwise subdued market after the stock was quoted ex-stock split from today.
JP Associates has slumped by over 8% at Rs 38 after Jaypee Infra Ventures sold over 13 million shares on the National Stock Exchange.
In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap index ended up 0.1% and BSE Small-cap index ended down 0.4%.
Market breadth ended weak with 1,715 losers and 1,246 gainers on the BSE.
