Indices slip after touching new peaks, log 1st drop in 5 days

Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty today slipped from record highs and logged their first drop in five days on profit-taking ahead of industrial output and inflation data releases. The country's trade deficit in May rising to 10-month highs and a weak opening in European stock barometers also affected domestic sentiment, said dealers.

The BSE 30-share barometer resumed better and improved further to a fresh historic intra-day high of 25,735.87. However, it fell back sharply to a low of 25,365.65 before concluding at 25,473.89, a net fall of 109.80 points or 0.43 per cent. In previous four sessions, it had zoomed by 777.86 points or 3.14 per cent.

Business was also marked by a technical glitch in the BSE's index calculation system for about 20 minutes earlier. The 50-issue CNX Nifty of the NSE declined by 29.55 points, or 0.39 per cent, to 7,626.85. Intra-day it crossed 7,700-mark for the first time to log a new high of 7,700.05. Nifty rose by 254 points in the previous four sessions.

"Benchmark indices fell strongly in today's session after rallying in first 90 minutes. Realty sector was the worst hit due to profit booking. Metals, Energy, Media and Infra also declined," said Kiran Kumar Kavikondala, Director & CEO, WealthRays Securities. Scrips from IT, teck and pharma, however, registered gains as investors searched for defensive picks, traders say. Weakness in heavyweights like RIL, ONGC, ITC, ICICI Bank, L&T and Tata Motors mainly weighed on the Sensex. Sesa Sterlite, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, HUL, Tata Power and Coal India also suffered losses and aided the Sensex drop today.

"The last three days of move in index show early sign of exhaustion at higher level, which ultimately triggers profit taking," said Jayant Manglik, President-retail distribution, Religare Securities. Offloading of positions occurred ahead of the release of Consumer Price Index inflation data for May and Index of Industrial Production data for April due Thursday. Wholesale Price Index inflation data for May is due on June 16. Country's trade deficit jumped to 10 month high of USD 11.23 billion in May even though exports witnessed strongest growth of 12.4 per cent in six months.