Sensex falls 50 points on profit-booking; HDFC, Infy take hit

After witnessing wide fluctuations the benchmark BSE Sensex was trading up by 35.43 points in a range-bound momentum in late morning deals on Tuesday, supported by buying in most of the sectors.

In a volatile trade, the Sensex on Tuesday fell over 50 points to close at 27,440.14 as investors turned cautious and booked profits in banking, IT and auto sector stocks.

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Selling was seen mainly in key stocks like HDFC, HDFC Bank, Infosys, ITC, SBI, M&M, Cipla, among others.

Besides, a smart rise in ONGC, TCS, Vedanta, HUL, Tata Steel, Sun Pharma, L&T, Hindalco and Tata Motors, capped the fall in the benchmark.

Second-line stocks outperformed the Sensex on good buying by retail investors as their indices -- BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap -- rose by 0.60% and 0.08%, respectively.

Worries over the remaining fourth quarter results amid a downward bias in Asian markets too weighed negatively on the market sentiment.

The BSE 30-share barometer resumed better and touched a high of 27,603.71 before tumbling back to an intra-day low of 27,338.23, down by over 150 points.

Later, it recovered on firm European opening to settle at 27,440.14, still showing a fall of 50.45 points, or 0.18%. On Monday, the Sensex had spurted by 479.28 points, or 1.77%.

Similarly, the 50-issue CNX Nifty of the NSE also gyrated in a range of 8,355.65 and 8,280.60 before concluding slightly lower by 7.15 points, or 0.09%, at 8,324.80.

However, metal stocks were in the limelight on good demand from China and its index was the top gainer among the sectoral indices, rising by 2.86%.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 60.53 crore yesterday, as per provisional data available with stock exchanges.