Sensex dips after hitting new high; Nifty ends at record close

Mild profit-booking after four days of consecutive gains pulled the benchmark Sensex today down by about five points to end at 27,860.38 after hitting record high for the third session in a row.

However, NSE barometer Nifty ended at new record close of 8,324.15, a marginal gain of 1.95 points, or 0.02 per cent, after clocking fresh life high of 8,350.60.

Trading sentiment was by and large tepid as participants preferred to stay sidelines ahead of trading holidays.

Among 30 Sensex components, 18 stocks led by GAIL, CIL, ITC, NTPC, ONGC and BHEL ended down while 12 others were up.

The Sensex resumed higher at 27,943.04 and firmed up further to an all-time high of 27,969.82 on initial strong buying in view of good foreign capital inflows. However, it declined afterwards to 27,785.40 before ending at 27,860.38, showing a marginal loss of 5.45 points or 0.02 per cent.

On Friday, it had zoomed to intra-day record high of 27,894.32 and ended at record close of 27,865.83. On last Thursday, it surged to previous life high of 27,390.60. In four days ending October 31, it ran up by over 1,100 points.

"After an exceptional week, the benchmarks were seen consolidating in a narrow range. Sentiments were on negative side from the beginning as fiscal deficit reached nearly 83 per cent of full-year target and core sector growth slowed down to 1.9 per cent in September," said Jayant Manglik, President-retail distribution, Religare Securities.

Trading will be truncated this week as the stock market will remain closed tomorrow, November 4, on account of Muharram. Also, there will be no trading on Thursday on account of Gurunanak Jayanti.

Meanwhile, the provisional data released by the stock exchanges showed that Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1,754.73 crore on Friday.

India's manufacturing sector output picked up modestly during October, driven by strong demand conditions and rise in new order flows, an HSBC survey said today.

"Going forward, Indian markets will be in a consolidation phase as of now the Nifty is technically will trade between 8200-8400 before the next rally begins," said Rajshekar Gowda, Senior Analyst, HBJ Capital.

Asian stocks ended mixed as key benchmark indices in China, Singapore and Taiwan rose 0.34 per cent to 0.51 per cent while indices in Hong Kong and South Korea fell by 0.34-0.58 per cent. The stock market in Japan was closed for a holiday.

European stocks were trading lower after last week's sharp gains triggered by a surprise stimulus plan from the Bank Of Japan. Key benchmark indices in France, Germany and UK moved down by 0.25 per cent to 0.46 per cent.

Commenting on Indian markets, Jignesh Chaudhary, Head Of Research, Veracity Broking Services said: "Profit booking was seen in the market as on Friday it closed at all-time high so investors preferred to stay cautious at higher levels."

Major losers were Gail India 5.70 per cent, M&M 2.67 per cent, Coal India Ltd 2.45 per cent, Hero MotoCorp 1.66 per cent, Maruti Suzuki 1.58 per cent, NTPC 1.43 per cent, Bajaj Auto 1.34 per cent and BHEL 1.85 per cent.

Winners included Sesa Sterlite that rose 2.17 per cent, Axis Bank 1.34 per cent, HDFC 1.04 per cent, ICICI Bank 1.02 per cent and Infosys 0.82 per cent.

Among the S&P BSE sectoral indices, Consumer Durables declined by 1,48 per cent and Auto 0.88 per cent while Realty rose by 3.61 per cent and Bankex by 0.46 per cent.

Reflecting rally in second-line stocks, the total market breadth remained positive as 1,826 stocks close in the green while 1,158 finished in the red. The total turnover was at Rs 3,506.62 crore.