Sensex, Nifty fall from life-time highs on profit booking

Mumbai: The BSE Sensex on September 4 retreated from life-time highs to end 54 points lower at 27,085.93 due to profit booking by investors in bluechips after a nine-day strong rally. The 30-share Sensex, which had gained over 825 points in the previous nine sessions, dipped below the 27,000-mark to hit the day's low of 26,972.39 after oil, banking, metal and IT stocks fell.

However, the barometer trimmed some of the losses due to late buying and it settled at 27,085.93, a decline of 54.01 points, or 0.20 per cent over the last close. On September 3, the BSE benchmark index had ended at all-time closing high of 27,139.94 and had also hit intra-day high of 27,225.85 on sustained foreign funds inflows.

The 50-scrip NSE Nifty slipped below the 8,100-mark to touch a low of 8,060.90. It ended 18.65 points, or 0.23 per cent lower at 8,095.95. The gauge on September 3 concluded at record 8,114.60 after scaling a life-time (intra-day) high of 8,141.90. Brokers said the market was in an "over-bought" position and participants adopted a cautious approach and preferred to lighten some positions by booking profits.

Selling was more pronounced in realty, metal, capital goods and oil and gas sector stocks, which pulled down the key indices - Sensex and Nifty - from record highs. BHEL was the biggest Sensex loser, plunging by 4.44 per cent, while Hindalco declined by 3.40 per cent. DLF tanked 8.60 per cent after the Punjab and Haryana High Court set aside the state government's decision to allot 350 acres of land in Gurgaon to the realty major in 2010.

Among Sensex components, 19 stocks ended in negative territory, while 11 closed higher. The BSE Realty Index suffered the most by falling 4.42 per cent, followed by Metal Index (1.50 pc), Capital goods index (1.00 pc), Oil and Gas (0.53 pc) PSU Index (0.51 pc) and Power Index (0.49 per cent). A weakening trend on other Asian markets and a lower opening on the European markets as investors awaited the European Central Bank's next steps on interest rates and quantitative easing, also triggered selling, brokers said.