Sensex and Nifty trip over profit taking in banking, energy shares

Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty cut short their four-day gaining streak and closed lower by half a per cent on Wednesday due to profit-taking in banking, energy and metal stocks amid weak trends in global markets.

Snapping its four-day rally, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 346.89 points or 0.55 per cent to settle at 62,622.24. During the day, it tumbled 568.11 points or 0.90 per cent to 62,401.02. The NSE Nifty declined 99.45 points or 0.53 per cent to end at 18,534.40.

In the four-day rally to Tuesday, Sensex advanced by 1,195 points or 2 per cent while Nifty rose by 348 points or 2.26 per cent.

From the Sensex pack, Axis Bank, State Bank of India, Reliance Industries, HDFC, HDFC Bank, NTPC, Tata Steel and UltraTech Cement were the major laggards on Wednesday.

Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra, Asian Paints, Sun Pharma, Tata Motors and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the gainers. The broader market however gained, with the BSE smallcap gauge jumping 0.68 per cent and midcap index climbing 0.54 per cent.

Among the indices, energy fell 1.20 per cent, metal (1.16 per cent), oil & gas (1.04 per cent), utilities (1 per cent) and financial services (0.68 per cent).