Sensex snaps five-day winning run; Nifty ends higher

Mumbai: The benchmark BSE Sensex today snapped its five-day winning spree by losing a marginal 5.83 points to settle at 28,879.38, dragged down by profit-taking in the recent outperformers. The NSE Nifty, however, managed to rise for the sixth straight session.[caption id=“attachment_2056209” align=“alignleft” width=“580”]  Bombay Stock Exchange. Reuters[/caption] Caution prevailed ahead of the key economic IIP data for February to be released after trading hours and beginning of the fourth quarter earning season next week, brokers said. The BSE Sensex opened a shade higher at 28,889.27 and advanced to the day’s high of 28,907.81 in early trade on sustained foreign capital inflows. On emergence of profit-booking it slipped into the red and touched a low of 28,756.75. It finally settled lower by 5.83 points or 0.02 per cent at 28,879.38. However, the 50-share NSE Nifty managed to end in positive zone for the sixth consecutive day with a marginal rise of 2.05 points or 0.02 per cent at 8,780.35. Intra-day it moved in the range of 8,787.40 to 8,733.60. Both the indices have ended in the green for the second-straight week. The market was in an “over-bought” position following huge positions built up in the past few trading sessions even after the RBI kept key rates unchanged in its monetary policy and the rating agency Moody’s upgrading the country’s credit outlook to ‘positive’, brokers said. Pharma stocks continued to fall for the second straight session with Cipla falling by most on the Sensex by 2.66 percent, whereas Lupin shed 2.49 percent. Losses in other Sensex counters like HDFC Bank, Hindalco, HDFC, Hero MotoCorp, NTPC, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank also weighed on market sentiments. Overall, 14 shares fell. Shares of Sesa Sterlite, SBI, Dr Reddy’s, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, RIL, Tata Power and BHEL, however, witnessed buying activity and finished in the green. Sector-wise, the BSE banking index suffered the most by losing 0.35 percent, followed by capital goods index by 0.31 percent and healthcare at 0.19 percent. However, small-cap index gained 1.10 percent and mid-cap index rose 0.39 percent, indicating continued buying by retail investors. Globally, a mixed closing in the Asian region and European markets extending an all-time high in their opening trade, influenced trading sentiments here. Foreign Portfolio Investors picked up shares worth Rs 193.81 crore and Domestic Institutional Investors bought shares worth Rs 492.79 crore yesterday, as per provisional data. PTI