Sensex feels the chill, logs first fall in seven sessions

The Sensex's four days of record

today gave way to its first drop in seven sessions, with

investors in metal and IT stocks burning their fingers.

The Nifty also came down from record, but managed to

close above 10,300.

Participants are not lowering their guard yet as they

keep their focus clearly on quarterly earnings and outcome of

the US Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting.

US President Donald Trump is expected to announce his

decision on the next Fed chair soon, which explains the state

of cautiousness among investors.

The 30-share Sensex, after opening lower, slipped

further. But buying in selective counters made it settle at

33,213.13, down 53.03 points, or 0.16 per cent.

The index had closed at a life high of 33,266.16

yesterday. It had risen 876.19 points in the past six

sessions.

The Nifty too closed lower 28.35 points, or 0.27 per

cent, at 10,335.30. It had ended at a fresh peak of 10,363.65

yesterday.

"Profit booking persisted near the record high levels and

the domestic indices remained volatile within a narrow range

ahead of the FOMC meeting starting today. A mixed bag of

corporate earnings and rise in VIX over the last two days

seems to have weighed down investors' confidence," said Anand

James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Financial Services Ltd.

Infosys was in a pool of red, tumbling the most by 2.43

per cent to Rs 921.65.

Dr Reddy's fell 0.07 per cent to Rs 2,431.40 after the

company today posted a marginal decline in consolidated net

profit for the second quarter.

Weakness in other heavyweights like M&M, Tata Steel, SBI,

Tata Motors and L&T also played a role.

In contrast, private lender Axis Bank topped the gainers

list surging 8 per cent, to Rs 523.05 on speculative buying.

ONGC, Bharti Airtel, Hero MotoCorp, Wipro and ITC also

rose and limited the fall.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares

worth a net Rs 186.04 crore while domestic institutional

investors (DIIs) picked up equities worth a net Rs 139.68

crore yesterday, as per provisional data.

The BSE metal index was the weakest of the lost, dropping

1.76 per cent, followed by IT and PSU.

Outperforming overall trends, the broader markets

continued their upward march on continuous buying by

investors, lifting the small-cap index by 0.46 per cent and

mid-cap by 0.14 per cent.

European stocks after some initial hesitation were

trading higher. Asia was mixed at the close. Japan's Nikkei

ended almost flat.

(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)