Markets take a breather after record rally; Sensex drops 71 pts

Mumbai, Sep 13: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty took a breather on Friday after a record rally in the previous session and ended marginally lower on the emergence of profit-taking.

In a range-bound trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell by 71.77 points or 0.09 per cent to close at 82,890.94. During the day, it dived 309.49 points or 0.37 per cent to 82,653.22.

The NSE Nifty dropped 32.40 points or 0.13 per cent to 25,356.50.

On a weekly basis, the BSE benchmark jumped 1,707.01 points or 2.10 per cent and the Nifty climbed 504.35 points or 2.02 per cent.

"After a sharp fall in early trades, key indices recouped most of their losses to end marginally lower on select profit-taking in power, oil & gas and FMCG shares. Markets were mostly range-bound after Thursday's sharp upsurge, and investors could now be in a wait-and-watch mode ahead of next week's Fed policy meeting," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

Adani Ports was the biggest loser in the Sensex pack, declining 1.37 per cent, followed by ITC, Bharti Airtel, NTPC, Maruti, Asian Paints, Sun Pharma, Power Grid, Hindustan Unilever and Larsen & Toubro.

In contrast, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, Axis Bank and Tech Mahindra were among the gainers.

In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge jumped 0.95 per cent and midcap climbed 0.48 per cent.

Among the indices, oil & gas declined by 0.55 per cent, FMCG fell (0.55 per cent), utilities (0.36 per cent), services (0.35 per cent) and power (0.28 per cent).

Realty, consumer durables, commodities, metal, IT and financial services were among the gainers.

In Asian markets, Tokyo and Shanghai settled lower, while Seoul and Hong Kong ended in positive territory.

"The market took a breather and ended on a flat note after the previous day’s sharp uptick. Despite domestic CPI inflation being within the RBI's target band, the increase in food prices may influence the central bank to remain prudent on rates.

"Higher liquidity from FIIs to the domestic market and a slide in US 10-year yield increased the prospects of the FED rate cut, which will aid domestic sentiment," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

Retail inflation in August inched up to 3.65 per cent, though vegetables and pulses witnessed price rise in double digits, according to official data released on Thursday.