Indian shares snapped a four-day winning streak after hitting all-time highs for the fourth session on Wednesday as investors booked profits in recent outperformers such as infrastructure and capital goods stocks.
Mixed cues from regional markets also weighed on sentiment, while gains in some of the underperformers such as Infosys capped the losses.
However, overseas investors, who were supporting the 21% gain in the NSE index so far this year, continued to buy shares worth $115.20mn on Tuesday.
“There was some profit-booking and it was expected. In the near-term, I think the market would trade range-bound with a positive bias,” said Suresh Parmar, head of institutional equities at KJMC Capital Markets.
“There could be stock-specific movements like that we saw in Infosys today. However, the undercurrent is still firm,” he added.
The benchmark BSE index ended 0.43% lower at 25,473.89. Earlier, it gained as much as 0.59% to a record high of 25,735.87, surpassing the previous high of 25,711.11 hit on Tuesday. The broader NSE index closed 0.39% lower at 7,626.85. It rose as much as 0.57% to an all-time high of 7,700.05, surpassing its previous peak of 7,683.20.
Shares in Coal India ended 3.83% lower after gaining 13.4% so far this month till Tuesday, while Hindalco Industries closed 4.2% lower after gaining 14.7% during the same period.
Shares in Bharat Heavy Electricals ended 3.4% lower after gaining 41.8% since May 1 till Tuesday. Power producers also lost some ground. Tata Power Co closed 4.9% lower, while NTPC ended down 3.3%.
Real estate stocks continued to fall, with the property sub index of the BSE declining 4.2%. Shares of DLF fell 5.3%, while Unitech declined 7.2%.
Rupee moves in a tight range
The rupee held in a tight range yesterday as lack of fresh domestic triggers prompted investors to stay on the sidelines while mixed Asian currencies and shares also failed to provide any clear direction.
Traders will now focus on retail inflation data, due to be released after market hours today, for direction. However, a large impact is unlikely on Friday unless the data is significantly off market expectations.
A Reuters survey of economists found consumer price inflation probably eased to 8.4% in May, from April’s three-month high of 8.59% as food prices fell slightly.
Industrial output data due around the same time is expected to show output expanded 1.9% annually in April after falling 0.5% in March.
“Market has remained very dull. The CPI and factory data will be key data points to watch out for as market expects better numbers for both,” said Pramod Patil, head of foreign exchange and debt trading at United Overseas Bank.
The partially convertible rupee closed at 59.27/28 per dollar, little changed from 59.29/30 on Tuesday. The unit moved in a tight range of 59.22 to 59.36 during the session.