Following intraday record highs, markets decline; the Sensex crosses the 75,000-milemark

Tuesday’s benchmark stock indexes saw a little decline in the last minutes due to profit-taking after the BSE Sensex’s first-ever early-day breakthrough of the 75,000 barrier and the Nifty reaching a new high.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 58.80 points, or 0.08 percent, to close at 74,683.70, capping its record-breaking rise. It increased 381.78 points, or 0.51%, throughout the day to hit the all-time high of 75,124.28.

To 22,642.75, the NSE Nifty fell 23.55 points, or 0.10 percent. It increased by 102.1 points, or 0.45%, throughout the day to reach the record high of 22,768.40.

The top losers from the Sensex basket were Asian Paints, Titan, Reliance Industries, Tech Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, UltraTech Cement, Wipro, and ITC.

Among the top gainers were Nestle, ICICI Bank, Infosys, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Steel, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, and Mahindra & Mahindra.

Seoul finished down on the Asian markets, but Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong settled in the positive area.

The majority of European markets were trading lower. Monday’s closing hours on Wall Street were uneventful.

Before profit-booking increased at higher levels in front of tomorrow’s crucial US inflation data, which is significant in deciding future rate reduction by the US Fed, the Indian market hit a new intraday high. Recent better-than-expected US job and industrial figures have raised concerns and may cause expectations about rate reduction this year to change, according to Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services.

According to exchange statistics, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded stocks on Monday worth Rs 684.68 crore.

The benchmark for world oil, Brent crude, increased by 0.18 percent to USD 90.54 a barrel.

On Monday, the BSE benchmark reached a new closing top of 74,742.50 after rising 494.28 points, or 0.67 percent. To reach 22,666.30, the NSE Nifty increased by 152.60 points, or 0.68 percent.