Sensex ends 127 points lower on profit booking; metals, IT dip

The benchmark Nifty retreated on profit booking and also saw some consolidation after Monday's sharp rally on China's move to free yuan. However, the index held the 5300 mark. Nifty 5300 and 5400 calls have maximum open interest, clearly suggesting that traders are seeing June expiry in the range of 5300-5400.

The sell-off in shares of technology, metal, capital goods, oil & gas exploration, auto, financial, select power and telecom companies exerted pressure on the markets. However, ITC, BPCL, HUL, Ranbaxy, Unitech, Idea, Sun Pharma, Tata Power, Ambuja Cements, ABB and Siemens were the only gainers, which capped the losses to some extent.

Fall in global markets also weighed on the equity benchmarks. European markets were trading 1-1.5% lower and the US index futures fell 0.3% each, at the time of closing of Indian equities. Asian equities also slipped; Nikkei was down 1.2%. Hang Seng, Straits Times, Kospi, Taiwan and Jakarta were down 0.3-0.5% while Shanghai gained just 0.1%.

The 30-share BSE Sensex closed at 17,749.69, down 126.86 points or 0.71% and the 50-share NSE Nifty declined 36.75 points or 0.69% to settle at 5,316.55. However, the Nifty June future ended at 9 points premium and July futures at 15 points premium.

Metal was the biggest loser among the sectoral indices; down 1.9%, which was the biggest gainer on Monday. Jindal Steel, Sterlite Industries and Tata Steel lost over 2%. Hindalco and SAIL fell 1.3% each.

Wipro was the leading loser on Nifty; down 2.2%. In the technology pack, TCS and Infosys were down 1.2%. HCL Tech was down 2.1%.