Indian equities slip on profit booking, global cues

Profit-booking after two consecutive sessions of touching new highs, coupled with negative global cues and heavy selling pressure in consumer durables, automobile and capital goods stocks, pulled the Indian equity markets lower on Tuesday.

The key equity indices slipped from their fresh intra-day highs and provisionally closed in the red, as caution also prevailed over the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) two-day meet that began on Tuesday.

The NSE Nifty crossed the 9,700 mark for the first time to touch a new high of 9,709.30 points during intra-day trade. The BSE Sensex, too, touched a fresh intra-day high of 31,430.32 points.

At 3.30 p.m., the Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) fell by 37.95 points or 0.39 per cent to provisionally close at 9,637.15 points.

The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 31,420.85 points, closed at 31,190.56 points -- down 118.93 points or 0.38 per cent from its previous close at 31,309.49 points.

The BSE market breadth was bearish -- with 1,760 declines and 936 advances.

--IANS

ppg/vt