Sensex breaches 75k-milestone, but markets end lower

Mumbai: Benchmark equity indices ended marginally lower on Tuesday amid profit-taking after the BSE Sensex breached the historic 75,000-mark for the first time ever in early trade and the Nifty climbed to its fresh peak.

Putting a break on its record-breaking rally, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 58.80 points or 0.08 per cent to settle at 74,683.70. During the day, it climbed 381.78 points or 0.51 per cent to reach the all-time peak of 75,124.28. The NSE Nifty dipped 23.55 points or 0.10 per cent to 22,642.75. During the day, it advanced 102.1 points or 0.45 per cent to hit the record peak of 22,768.40.

From the Sensex basket, Titan, Reliance Industries, Asian Paints, Tech Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, UltraTech Cement, Wipro and ITC were the major laggards. ICICI Bank, Infosys, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Steel, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, Nestle and Mahindra & Mahindra were among the major gainers. In Asian markets, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled in the positive territory while Seoul ended lower. European markets were trading mostly lower. Wall Street ended on a mixed note on Monday.

"The Indian market reached a fresh intra-day peak before seeing profit-booking at higher levels in anticipation of tomorrow's key US inflation data, which carries weight in determining future rate cuts by the US Fed. Concerns have emerged amidst recent better-than-anticipated US employment and manufacturing data, suggesting a potential shift in expectations regarding rate cuts this year," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 684.68 crore on Monday, according to exchange data. Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.18 per cent to $90.54 a barrel. The BSE benchmark jumped 494.28 points or 0.67 per cent to settle at a new closing peak of 74,742.50 on Monday. The NSE Nifty climbed 152.60 points or 0.68 per cent to 22,666.30