Sensex logs 1st loss in four days, banks play spoilsport

With investors locking in gains towards the middle of the session, the 30-share Sensex ended at 34,949.24, down 0.61 per cent. The BSE gauge touched a low of 34,922.18 in intra-day.

The Sensex had risen 820.57 points in the previous three sessions.

Earlier today, the benchmark BSE index opened strongly at 35,213.14 and advanced to hit a high of 35,234.14 on intense buying by domestic institutional investors and retail participants.

Likewise, the 50-stock NSE Nifty finished 55.35 points, or 0.52 per cent, lower at 10,633.30 after hitting the day's high of 10,717.25 and a low of 10,616.10.

Despite a strong start to trade today, key benchmark indices retreated sharply from their higher levels following bouts of profit-taking amid fresh weakness in the rupee against the dollar.

The rupee depreciated by 57 paise to Rs 68 (intra-day) against the dollar at the forex market today.

Coming to global markets, most Asian markets ended lower and European shares too were down in their early deals due to political uncertainty in Italy.

"Market turned to profit-booking on weak global cues and PSU banks under-performed after recent rally. Consolidation in market may continue due to fear of downgrade in FY19 numbers and worsening domestic macros. Additionally, higher retail fuel price is adding inflationary pressures. Investors are expecting volatility ahead of F&O expiry which may direct them to stay cautious," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services Ltd, said.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 795.06 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities to the tune of Rs 1,017.65 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.

Among the laggards in the Sensex pack were ICICI Bank (2.87 per cent), SBI (2.70 per cent), IndusInd Bank (2.08 per cent), Yes Bank (1.78 per cent), Kotak Bank (1.63 per cent), Asian Paint (1.49 per cent), HDFC Ltd (1.10 per cent), NTPC (1.02 per cent), Coal India (0.98 per cent) and HUL (0.62 per cent).

Other losers were ITC Ltd (0.62 per cent), HDFC Bank (0.60 per cent), Tata Motors (0.54 per cent), RIL (0.43 per cent), Adani Ports (0.41 per cent), Dr Reddy's (0.40 per cent) and PowerGrid 0.34 per cent.

Among the gainers, M&M emerged on top by rising 2.26 per cent after the company today posted 50 per cent jump in its net profit at Rs 1,155 crore for the March quarter, driven by robust sales across segments.

Shares of infrastructure giant L&T also rose 0.18 per cent after the company registered 4.72 per cent jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 3,167.47 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2018.

Other winners were Bharti Airtel (gains of 1.08 per cent), Infosys (0.72 per cent), TCS (0.54 per cent) and Hero MotoCorp (0.45 per cent).

Sectorally, BSE bankex fell the most at 1.61 per cent, followed by healthcare 0.80 per cent, consumer durables 0.77 per cent, realty 0.76 per cent, PSU 0.55 per cent, FMCG 0.42 per cent and power 0.11 per cent.

Oil and gas index rose 0.49 per cent, auto 0.43 per cent, IT 0.34 per cent, teck 0.10 per cent and metal 0.09 per cent.

The broader markets too succumbed to profit-booking, with the mid-cap index falling 0.44 per cent and small-cap index shedding 0.26 per cent.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei fell 0.55 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 1 per cent and Shanghai Composite Index down 0.47 per cent.

In the Eurozone, Frankfurt's DAX was down 1.52 per cent, while Paris CAC 40 declined 1.67 per cent. London's FTSE down 0.95 per cent.