Sensex drops over 100 points to open at 65,452, Nifty nears 19,380

Equity benchmark indices climbed in early trade on Wednesday, but later gave up all the gains to trade lower amid emergence of profit-taking, after an unabated record-breaking rally in the last few trading sessions.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 44.19 points to 65,523.24 after beginning the trade on a positive note. Soon, it touched a high of 65,584.33, a gain of 105.28 points.

The NSE Nifty went up by 20.4 points to 19,409.40 in early trade. Later, it hit a high of 19,421.60, up 32.6 points.

However, later both the benchmark indices gave up early gains and were trading lower amid profit-taking.

The BSE quoted 65.60 points lower at 65,413.45 and the Nifty traded 16 points down at 19,373.

From the Sensex pack, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, Asian Paints, Larsen & Toubro, Maruti, Bajaj Finance, Hindustan Unilever and Nestle were the biggest gainers.

HDFC Bank, HDFC, Wipro, Bajaj Finserv, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Titan and Axis Bank were among the laggards.

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

US markets were shut on Tuesday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.59 per cent to USD 75.80 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth ₹2,134.33 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

“The market has already run-up sharply to record highs in the last few sessions on the back of strong FII inflows. Investors will be eyeing the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes to be released later today,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

Rallying for the fifth straight session on Tuesday, the BSE benchmark had jumped 274 points or 0.42 per cent to settle at its all-time closing high of 65,479.05. During the day, the benchmark had surged 467.92 points or 0.71 per cent to hit its lifetime intra-day peak of 65,672.97.

The Nifty climbed 66.45 points or 0.34 per cent to end at a fresh record high of 19,389. During the day, it advanced 111.6 points or 0.57 per cent to hit its all-time intra-day peak of 19,434.15.