ITC, Reliance Industries and Bajaj Finance were the top percentage losers among Nifty shares
The benchmark indices reversed direction in late-afternoon trading after registering new record highs earlier in the session. The S&P BSE Sensex index, which had surpassed the 48,600 mark for the first time ever, earlier in the morning, shed around 700 points from the day's high due to weakness in heavyweights such as Reliance Industries and ITC. The 30-scrip index had opened 178.88 points, or 0.37 per cent, higher at an all-time high of 48,616.66, and the broader NSE Nifty 50 benchmark had added 41.45 points (0.29 per cent) to start the day at an all-time high of 14,240.95.
At 2:30 pm, the BSE Sensex was trading at the mid point of the day at 48,154.48, lower by 281.45 points or 0.58 per cent and the NSE Nifty was at 14,133.85, down 65 points or 0.46 per cent.
ITC, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance, BPCL and Axis Bank, trading between 1.9 per cent and 4 per cent lower, were the top percentage losers in the Nifty-50 basket of shares. HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra and Hindustan Unilever were the other significant losers at the time.
On the other hand, PowerGrid, Hindalco and ICICI Bank bucked the weak trend, with gains of 2-4 per cent each, on the NSE.
Among stocks in the news, BEML shares gained more than 2 per cent at Rs 1,013.50 after the company bagged orders from the Ministry of Defence for supplying high mobility vehicles at an approximate value of Rs 758 crore.
The NSE market breadth turned negative. Out of 2,220 shares traded on the NSE, there were 799 advancing shares as against 1,111 declines.
