Mkts snap 7-day rising streak on profit-booking

Mumbai: Indian equities halted their seven-session rising streak on Tuesday, with the benchmark Sensex skidding from its record closing high as participants took this opportunity to book profits in recent high-flying stocks.

The BSE gauge Sensex settled 53.73 points, or 0.13 per cent, lower at 40,248.23. Starting off positively, the 30-share BSE index went on to hit a high of 40,466.55 before slipping to a day's low of 40,053.55.

The broader NSE Nifty too slipped 24.10 points, or 0.20 per cent, to close at 11,917.20. Thus, both indices snapped their seven straight sessions of rise, the longest stretch of gains in over seven months.

The domestic market rally was mainly attributed to encouraging quarterly earnings, sustained foreign fund inflows and positive global cues. Meanwhile, fresh optimism on trade talks between the US and China pushed global equities indices higher.

Sectorally, BSE consumer durables, healthcare, capital goods, metal, energy, oil and gas, realty and IT indices fell up to 1.28 per cent.

While BSE telecom and FMCG ended in the green, rising up to 1.47 per cent. Broader BSE midcap and smallcap indices fell up to 1.13 per cent.

"The market has taken a breather, and this happens whenever we see profit-taking in auto stocks.

In fact, it's most sensitive sector for any economy and now a days along with market experts even retailers are tracking it closely," Shrikant Chouhan, Senior Vice-President, Equity Technical Research, Kotak Securities, said.

Analysts said further contraction in service PMI in October due to muted demand also influenced investors to turn cautious

Meanwhile, the Indian rupee appreciated by 8 paise to 70.69 against the US dollar. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.82 per cent to $62.65 per barrel.