Markets Take Pause on Profit Booking 

Mumbai: Equities slipped for the first time in three days with the BSE Sensex dropping by 52 points to 28,926.36 on Wednesday. Key indices turned southwards on profit booking amid mixed global cues on caution ahead of European Central Bank’s meet. Investors preferred to book profits cashing in on the recent gains.

The 30-share Sensex, which went past the 29,000-mark at the outset to touch a high of 29,067.84 succumbed to profit- booking later and slipped to 28,911.31 before ending down by 51.66 points or 0.18 per cent at 28,926.36.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit BNP Paribas Financial, said: “Buoyancy in currency market, where the rupee strengthened against the US dollar, capped the losses in broader markets. Market oscillated between gains and losses and ended with minor loss due to profit-booking ahead of the ECB meet tomorrow, which could provide clues on global liquidity.”

Overseas, Asian stocks ended mixed with indices like China and Taiwan ending higher by up to 0.84 per cent, while indices in Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and South Korea eased between 0.10 per cent and 0.41 per cent. European markets also traded mixed as key indices in France and Germany moved up by 0.22 per cent to 0.31 per cent, however, the UK’s FTSE was lower by 0.01 per cent.

In BSE Sensex pack, 18 scrips ended lower. BSE Sensex rose 554.54 points in the last two sessions on bullish overseas cues after weak US jobs data dimmed hopes of an interest-rate hike by the Federal Reserve in near-term. NSE Nifty after shuttling between 8,968.70 and 8,913.35 settled 25.05 points or 0.28 per cent lower at 8,917.95. The broader markets, however, outperformed the Sensex with the small-cap index ending 0.62 per cent higher, while mid-cap gained 0.11 per cent.

State Bank of India (SBI) was the biggest gainer on the index, rising 2.74 per cent to Rs 266.55, after the state-run lender said it raised Rs 2,100 crore by allotting Basel-III compliant perpetual bonds to Yes Bank. Power equipment maker BHEL surged 15.50 per cent to Rs 159.80 after it reported a 54.21 per cent jump in net profit to Rs 77.77 crore for the June quarter. Shares of Vedanta Ltd ended steady, while Cairn India settled 1.23 per cent lower at Rs 200.55, after shareholders of the mining conglomerate Vedanta Resources approved merger of the two group firms.

Rupee at 4-month High

The rupee appreciated further by 19 paise to trade at over 4-month high of 66.33 against the US dollar at the forex market. The increased selling of the American currency by banks and exporters pushed the Indian currency upwards. Besides, strong foreign fund inflows, weakness of the dollar against other currencies overseas after data showed activity in the US service sector slowed sharply last month, and a higher opening in the domestic equity market boosted the rupee value against the dollar, forex dealers said.

Source: PTI