Sensex falls 242 pts, snaps 11-day winning run on profit taking in metal, banking shares

Snapping its record 11-day winning run, Sensex declined by around 242 points on Monday as profit taking in metal, banking and telecom shares amid weak global trends dragged down the benchmark index from record high levels.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell by 241.79 points or 0.36 per cent to settle at 67,596.84 in a volatile trading. During the day, it declined by 305.8 points or 0.45 per cent to a low of 67,532.83.

Retreating from its all-time high, the broader Nifty closed at 20,133.30, down by 59.05 points or 0.29 per cent, as 26 of its constituents closed in the red while 24 advanced.

BSE Sensex closed at a life-time high of 67,838.63 after 11 straight days of gains while Nifty settled at record 20,192.35 on Friday following positive macro data.

Among the Sensex firms, HDFC Bank fell the most by 1.98 per cent. Bharti Airtel (1.71 per cent), Infosys (1.4 per cent), Tata Steel (1.21 per cent), UltraTech Cement (1.19 per cent), Wipro (1.17 per cent), Kotak Mahindra Bank (1.02 per cent), Reliance Industries, Tech Mahindra and JSW Steel were the major laggards.

Power Grid, Titan, Mahindra & Mahindra and NTPC were among the gainers.

"Markets finally reversed the 11-session winning streak as profit-taking came into play in banking, realty, IT and telecom stocks. Along with concerns over rising global crude oil prices and uptick in dollar index and US treasury yields, investors trimmed their exposure ahead of the outcome of the US FOMC meeting on interest rates on Wednesday," Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd.

Other than global headwinds, higher domestic index valuations after the recent upsurge is making investors nervous, which may lead to some more profit-taking in the near term, Chouhan said.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said, "Domestic markets relinquished their momentum as they anticipated a raft of policy rate decisions due this week.

"The investor's confidence was also impacted by the expectations of a demand resurgence in China, combined with crude supply cuts. With the Fed rate hike fears back on the cards, as reflected in the elevated US bond yields, the markets await clarification from major central banks." In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge fell 0.60 per cent and the midcap index declined 0.27 per cent.

Among the indices, telecommunication fell by 1.86 per cent, realty declined 1.27 per cent, commodities (0.96 per cent), teck (0.92 per cent), metal (0.89 per cent) and services (0.74 per cent).

Consumer Discretionary, FMCG, utilities, auto and power were among the gainers.

In Asian markets, Seoul and Hong Kong settled lower, while Shanghai ended in the green.

European markets were trading lower. The US markets ended in negative territory on Friday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.39 per cent to USD 94.30 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were buyers on Friday as they bought equities worth Rs 164.42 crore, according to exchange data.