Equity benchmark indices declined in early trade on July 20, halting their five-day rally, as investors went for profit-taking after a record-breaking run in domestic markets.
The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 171.62 points to 66,925.82 after a tepid beginning. The NSE Nifty declined 48.6 points to 19,784.55.
From the Sensex pack, Infosys, HCL Technologies, UltraTech Cement, Tata Consultancy Services, Bajaj Finance and Nestle were the major laggards.
State Bank of India, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, ICICI Bank and IndusInd Bank were among the gainers.
In Asian markets, Tokyo and Shanghai were trading lower while Seoul and Hong Kong quoted in the green.
The U.S. markets ended in the positive territory on July. 19
Global oil benchmark, Brent crude, climbed 0.11% to USD $79.55 a barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) continued their buying activity as they bought equities worth Rs ₹1,165.47 crore on July 19, according to exchange data.
Rallying for the fifth day running, the BSE benchmark had jumped 302.30 points or 0.45% to settle at its record high of 67,097.44 on July 19. During the day, it had rallied 376.24 points or 0.56% to reach its all-time intra-day peak of 67,171.38.
The Nifty gained 83.90 points or 0.42% to end at its lifetime closing high of 19,833.15 in the previous trade. During the day, it climbed 102.45 points or 0.51% to hit record intra-day peak of 19,851.70.
“The demerger of Jio Financial Services from RIL and the Q1 results of Infosys, HUL and a host of mid-cap IT companies can cause a lot of price action in the market today,” V.K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said.
NSE conducted a special pre-open session for Reliance Industries Ltd on July 20 on account of the demerger of its financial services business, Reliance Strategic Investments Ltd.
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