The benchmark index Nifty scaled a new landmark of 7,700 in early trade but soon lost momentum and ended in the red on profit booking on the NSE today as bulls paused for breath after a four-session rally ahead of release of industrial output and inflation data.
The 50-share Nifty lost 29.55 points, or 0.39 per cent, to end at 7,626.85 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), which again witnessed high amount of volatility.
Energy, infra, FMCG, metal, auto and financial scrips witnessed huge unwinding even as small and mid-cap stocks plunged sharply. However, technology and healtncare counters attracted good buying interest for the second day.
After a sluggish start, market rebounded in a dramatic fashion to hit a new lift-time high of 7,700 following a wave of buying. But it ran out of steam, jolted by trade deficit number which showed the gap expanded to USD 11.23 billion in May, though exports posted strongest growth in 6 months.
The market remained under intense selling pressure. Retail investors turned cautious ahead of release of key macro data, including IIP and May CPI inflation numbers, tomorrow.
Other Asian and emerging stocks, meanwhile, ended mixed in a choppy trade following cues from overnight lacklustre session on Wall Street.
DLF, Tata Power, Hindalco, Coal India, NTPC, BHEL, NMDC, Cairn, Jindal Steel and ONGC were among the top index losers.
Key gainers included Infosys, Kotak Bank, TCS, Asian Paints, HeroMoto, Dr Reddy's, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Auto, Cipla and SBIN.
Turnover in the cash segment rose to Rs 24,638.79 crore from Rs 23,609.74 crore yesterday. A total of 16,215.86 lakh shares changed hands in 102,32,299 trades, while the market capitalisation stood at Rs 87,85,409 crore.
