Profit booking puts brakes on rally

Shares closed 1 per cent down on Thursday on profit sales and caution over April-June earnings. Oil marketing companies took a beating after crude oil prices touched $76 a barrel in New York. The market now awaits Bank of Japan's (BoJ) decision on interest rates on Friday for direction.

Asian shares ended down as the BoJ is expected to raise benchmark interest rates by 0.25 per cent, for the first time after five years of zero rates.

The Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-share Sensex closed at 10858.50, down 71.59 points or 0.7 per cent, after moving between 10922.61 and 10797.49.

The National Stock Exchange's 50-share Nifty ended 3169.30, down 26.60 points or 0.8 per cent, after moving between 3208.85 and 3148.95. Turnover on both exchanges together was Rs 7,900 crore, down 25 per cent from Wednesday.

Tata Power, up 3.4 per cent, was the top Nifty gainer on news the company would seek shareholder approval to raise up to Rs 10,000 crore for forthcoming projects.

Bharat Petroleum, down 3.6 per cent, was the worst hit among Nifty.

Despite the fall, market breadth was positive with advances outnumbering declines 1315 to 1084 on BSE.

Index heavyweight Oil and Natural Gas Corporation ended down marginally. The stock had risen 2.7 per cent earlier on petroleum secretary MS Srinivasan's statement on Wednesday that ONGC Videsh is likely to bid $500 million for a stake in an oil and gas block in Africa.

Metal shares rose marginally intraday due to a positive price outlook on London Metal Exchange. BSE Metal index ended up 0.2 per cent.

On Nifty, Hindalco Industries and Steel Authority of India were up 1.3 per cent and 0.9 per cent.