Stock markets came off their peak and turned weak today after three back-to-back sessions of gains as the benchmark Sensex slipped in view of April derivatives expiry.
Besides, weak Asian cues weighed on the domestic sentiment. Investors are looking forward to US President Donald Trump’s plan for the US tax system.
The 30-share index hit yet another record high (intra-day) of 30,184.22 points, but slumped to quote down down
At 12.35 pm local time, the 30-share BSE index Sensex was trading down by 71.26 points or 0.24 per cent at 30,062.08 after hiting yet another record high (intra-day) of 30,184.22 points.
The gauge had gained 768.05 points in the previous three sessions.
The NSE Nifty was trading down by 12.3 points or 0.13 per cent at 9,339.55, after rising to 9,363.40 in early trade.
Among BSE sectoral indices, consumer durables index gained the most by 0.56 per cent, followed by power 0.51 per cent, auto 0.48 per cent and IT 0.43 per cent. On the other hand, metal index was down 0.73 per cent, FMCG 0.63 per cent, healthcare 0.25 per cent and realty 0.1 per cent.
Top five Sensex gainers were Tata Motors (+2.02%), Power Grid (+1.92%), Hero MotoCorp (+1.1%), Infosys (+0.57%) and GAIL (+0.5%), while the major losers were Axis Bank (-1.88%), ITC (-1.86%), Tata Steel (-1.39%), Lupin (-1.29%) and State Bank of India (-0.98%).
Maruti Suzuki was trading flat as cautious investors cut down their bets ahead of the quarterly earnings to be released later in the day.
Squaring-up of positions by participants — today being the last trading session of April series contracts in the derivatives segment — and weak Asian cues dampened the sentiment here.
Asian shares eased from a near two-year high on Thursday as a long-awaited US tax cut plan failed to inspire investors, though the sentiment remained supported by global growth prospects and receding worries about political risks in Europe.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.4 per cent after hitting its highest level since June 2015 on Wednesday.
Japan's Nikkei dipped 0.3 per cent.