Taking Stock: Sensex, Nifty see profit booking; IT stocks among top drags

Domestic benchmark indices snapped their six-day winning run on February 21 as traders booked profits. IT and oil & gas stocks were biggest drags on the indices.

The 30-share flagship Sensex settled 434.31 points, or 0.59 percent, lower at 72,623.09 and Nifty dropped 141.90 points, or 0.64 percent, to settle at 22,055.05. Broader markets continued to see selling as key indices fell over a percent.

“Investors turned cautious ahead of the outcome of the minutes of the US Fed's last meeting as profit-taking in IT, oil & gas, power and metals saw markets snap its 6-session winning streak. The minutes may indicate that the US Fed would wait for inflation to moderate further before giving up its hawkish stance on interest rates," said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities.