Sensex snaps 6-day rally on profit-booking; down 83 points

Snapping 6-day rally, the BSE index Sensex fell 83 points to 18,763 on profit booking in blue chips like RIL, L&T and HUL, although it had touched intra-day high of 19,000 after two months.

Reliance Industries, with heaviest weight in the 30-stock Sensex, dropped 3.95 per cent to Rs 862.15. Bharti Airtel lost 2.99 per cent to Rs 383.45 and Maruti Suzuki by 2.18 per cent to Rs 1,133.15 after sales declined for the first time since December 2008 as a strike curbed production.

Other losers were Tata Steel, Jindal Steel, Larsen and Toubro, Hindustan Unilever, HDFC Bank, HDFC Ltd, Cipla, Mahindra and Mahindra and ITC Ltd.

The benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex, which had gained nearly 1,300 points in the last six sessions, fell by 83.07 poins to 18,762.80. The gauge had regained the 19,000 level in early trade for the first time since May 3.

Similarly, the National Stock Exchange index Nifty, after testing 5,700 mark fell 20.20 points to 5,627.20.

However, the decline was checked as IT stocks, led by Infosys, saved the market from any major fall following a better trend in overseas markets. About half of Indian software firms' revenues come from US and Europe.

Realty, metal, power, bank and FMCG sector stocks were also higher.

ONGC, the largest state-owned oil explorer spurted by 0.88 per cent to Rs 276.30 and Cairn India by 4.81 per cent to Rs 325.70 after the government made the recovery of royalty payments a condition for the planned acquisition of a stake by Vedanta Resources in Cairn India.

Bucking the general weak trend, realty sector gained the most by 3.01 percent to 2,080.70 as the biggest developer DLF Ltd surged 4.65 per cent to Rs220.35 on reports that the company may sell its stake in special economic zones in Pune and Noida to cut debt.