Equity indices fall in early trade after record rally, profit-taking emerges

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell by 200.03 points to 82,762.68, despite starting the day on a positive note. The NSE Nifty dropped 67.5 points to 25,321.40. Among the 30 Sensex companies, the biggest decliners were Asian Paints, Mahindra & Mahindra, ITC, Hindustan Unilever, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, Infosys, and Bajaj Finance.

Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices declined in early trade on Friday after the previous session’s record rally on the emergence of profit-taking amid weak trends from Asian peers.

The 30-share BSE Sensex dived 200.03 points to 82,762.68 after beginning the trade on a positive note. The NSE Nifty dropped 67.5 points to 25,321.40.

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Among the 30 Sensex firms, Asian Paints, Mahindra & Mahindra, ITC, Hindustan Unilever, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, Infosys and Bajaj Finance were the biggest laggards.

Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Tata Motors and Power Grid were among the gainers.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Shanghai were trading lower while Hong Kong quoted in the positive territory.

The US markets ended with gains on Thursday.

A sharp fag-end rally on Thursday drove the BSE benchmark to the 83,000 level for the first time. The barometer surged 1,593.03 points or 1.95 per cent to hit its lifetime intra-day peak of 83,116.19. The index ended at a record high of 82,962.71, up by 1,439.55 points or 1.77 per cent.

The NSE Nifty surged 470.45 points or 1.89 per cent to settle at a record closing high of 25,388.90. The benchmark hit its fresh all-time intra-day high of 25,433.35, a jump of 514.9 points or 2 per cent.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 7,695 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.40 per cent to 72.26 a barrel.