Mid-day market trade: Sensex, Nifty see profit-taking after scaling all-time highs

Indian equities after hitting fresh record highs and Nifty 50 closing in on 25,000 levels in early trade saw sharp sell-off amid profit-taking.  From the day's high, the Nifty has fallen almost 180 points in the mid-day trade. Nifty from day's high levels of 24,999.75 was last trading up by 0.12 per cent or 29.05 at 24,863.9, while the Sensex traded with gains of 0.06 per cent or 49.4 points at 81,381.12.

Bank Nifty- a barometer of the banking sector's performance also took a toll and after gaining over 1000 points retreated lower sharply as stocks like HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, AU Small Finance Bank and IDFC First Bank dragged the index down.

Sectorally, barring IT, FMCG and pharma traded weak, while PSU Bank index topped followed by realty and oil & gas stocks. 

From within the Nifty pack, BPCL, Larsen and Toubro, Divi's Laboratories, SBI and ICICI Bank were the top gainers, while the top losers from the basket included stocks like Tata Consumer Products, Cipla, Titan, Bharti Airtel and Tech Mahindra.

Meanwhile, European markets traded on a mixed note with the French CAC trading with minor losses. The gains in the European markets were led by the buoyancy driven by the global oil sector on the back of widening rift in the Middle East.