Indian Markets Decline on Profit-Taking, Weak Global Peers

Mumbai, Jul 18 (PTI) Equity benchmark indices declined in early trade on Thursday, as profit-taking emerged in domestic equities after a record rally amid weak global market trends.

The 30-share BSE Sensex opened on a muted note and declined 251.93 points to 80,464.62 in initial trade. The NSE Nifty dipped 76.6 points to 24,536.40.

Among the Sensex pack, Asian Paints went lower by 2 per cent after the company reported a 24.64 per cent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,186.79 crore in the June quarter, hit by demand slowdown due to severe heatwave and general elections.

UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, JSW Steel and NTPC were among the other laggards.

On the contrary, Sun Pharma, Axis Bank, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services and Bharti Airtel defied the broader market trend and were trading in the positive territory.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Shanghai were trading lower, while Hong Kong quoted higher.

The US markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.35 per cent to USD 85.38 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 1,271.45 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

Stock markets were closed on Wednesday on account of Muharram.

The BSE benchmark climbed 51.69 points or 0.06 per cent to settle at a new lifetime high of 80,716.55 on Tuesday. During the day, it advanced 233.44 points or 0.28 per cent to hit a fresh record high of 80,898.30.

The NSE Nifty went up by 26.30 points or 0.11 per cent to settle at an all-time closing high of 24,613. Intra-day, it rallied 74.55 points or 0.30 to hit a new record peak of 24,661.25.