Sensex, Nifty lose early gains on profit booking

Equity benchmark indices came off early highs in the afternoon trade on Wednesday as profit booking emerged at higher levels.The BSE S&P Sensex closed 86 points or 0.22% at 38,615 while the Nifty 50 gained by 23 points or 0.2% at 11,408.

Sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were mixed with Nifty media gaining by 5.3%, PSU bank by 2.3% and realty by 1.2%.

Among stocks, Zee Entertainment was the top gainers after moving up 14% to Rs 198.40 per share. 

Energy major GAIL advanced by 5% at Rs 101.80 per share. The other major gainers were Tech Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, UPL and HDFC Life.

However, Bajaj Auto skidded by 1.2% to Rs 3,067.50 per share while ONGC slipped by 1.1%. IT majors Wipro and Infosys too lost marginally along with FMCG giants Britannia and Hindustan Lever.

Meanwhile, Asian shares climbed to a seven-month peak tracking the S&P 500, which scaled all-time highs. The positive sentiment was driven by ever-expanding policy stimulus aimed at cushioning the blow to economies from coronavirus pandemic.

South Korea`s Kospi added 0.52% while Japan`s Nikkei nudged up by 0.26%. But Hong Kong`s Hang Seng fell by 0.74%.