Final Trade: Indices end lower amid profit booking; Nifty gives up 26,200 levels, Sensex down 264 pts

Indian equities after record run for seven straight sessions witnessed profit booking. After hitting new highs in early trade, both the Sensex and Nifty indices gave up initial gains. Sensex ended 264.27 or 0.31 per cent lower at 85,571.85, while the Nifty50 index ended at 26,178.95, down 37.1 points or 0.14 per cent.

Bank Nifty, too, ended with a cut of over 1 per cent, led by losses in HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank among others.

Nifty IT index which gained strength up to 3 per cent gave up its mojo towards the later part of the trade. Accenture's forward guidance of a better revenue growth in FY25 uplifted sentiment, nonetheless the upbeat sentiment withered away soon. 

Sectorally, the oil and gas sector took the lead today as declining crude price bodes well for the sector. BPCL shares hit a new all-time high today and emerged as the top Nifty gainer ending over 6 per cent higher.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services on the performance today said, "Following the recent impressive surge, the benchmark indices experienced a sideways movement today as investors engaged in profit booking at elevated levels. The Chinese market saw sharp gains amidst mixed Asian sentiments, given economic stimulus and attractive valuation. Metals stocks saw a resurgence, while the Pharma and IT sectors saw an uptick on account of weakness in INR. Meanwhile, investors are looking forward to the Q2 earnings report, anticipating improvement in earnings outlook."

European stocks meanwhile remained resilient, with the German DAX index leading the gains at the last count.