Profit-booking continues, Sensex loses 29 points

The BSE benchmark Sensex today closed down 29 points after hitting a fresh 30-month high, with investors continuing profit-booking amid mixed global cues.   

The Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-share bellwether remained
range-bound for most of the day before profit-booking emerged
in the final hour of trade. It finally ended the day down 28.84 points, or 0.16%, at 18,143.99.

However, on a weekly basis, the gauge recorded a gain of
1.5% this week.

The National Stock Exchange's wide-based Nifty index fell 0.14% to finish at 5,439.25 points.

Markets had remained range-bound yesterday as well before
closing down 45 points, snapping a three-day gaining streak.

Analysts attributed the Sensex's confinement to a narrow range during the last couple of days to the absence of major triggers overseas.

"The market is unable to move forward and is facing a lot of resistance at the current level. The market is looking for some big triggers," Kotak Mutual Fund Head of Equities Krishna Sanghavi said. 

After two days of gains, IT stocks today took a breather and most of them ended in red, as investors reduced positions ahead of key US employment data. TCS plunged 1.12% and Infosys 0.12%.

"Investors turned cautious ahead of monthly jobs data in the US. Also, a mixed earnings season coupled with high valuations of large cap stocks are keeping investors at bay," IIFL vice-president (Research) Amar Ambani said.

IT stocks were on the rise in the past two days, as the sentiment was boosted after Cognizant posted robust June quarter results.

State-run ONGC sank 1 per cent amid talks that the government will divest its 5 per cent stake in the energy giant.

Reliance Industries, which carries the maximum weight in the Sensex, continued to slide for the third straight session and ended 0.54% lower at Rs 1,001.55. During the day, the scrip sank by 0.78% to touch a month-low of Rs 999.

Reversing yesterday's gains, the country's top lender, SBI, lost 0.79%, while ICICI Bank ended 0.33% down.

Hero Honda declined by 1.3%, the most in the BSE-30, followed by
Tata Steel, which fell by 1.22%.

In the Sensex pack, 21 stocks ended with losses, while 9 managed to close in the green.

Other major losers include DLF, which lost 0.90%, R-Infra (down 0.78%) and L&T (down 0.43%).     

However, Tata Motors bucked the broader market trend and surged by over 4% to emerge as the biggest gainer in the Sensex. Tata Motors was followed by ITC, which gained 1.92% and HDFC, which climbed 1.37%.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mixed today. Key indices from Japan and Singapore ended in red, while China and Hong Kong ended in the green. 

European stocks were trading higher in late morning deals on some good corporate results, analysts said.