Sensex edges lower on profit-taking

By Vishal Sridhar

REUTERS - Indian shares inched down on Monday, pausing after hitting record highs last week, as investors booked profits in recent strong gainers such as Bharti Airtel.

Sentiment was also muted across Asia, as the U.S. dollar staged a broad-based rally, while oil jumped to a more than two-year peak as Saudi Arabia's crown prince cemented his power through an anti-corruption crackdown.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.7 percent.

"The markets are seeing some sort of correction, and a bit of profit-booking, which was natural following record highs last week," said Sudhakar Pattabiraman, head of research operations at MarketSmith, which is part of financial services provider William O'Neil.

 

The broader NSE Nifty was down 0.08 percent at10,443.80 as of 0610 GMT, while the benchmark BSE Sensex was 0.01 percent lower at 33,683.17.

Both indexes touched record highs last week on rising optimism following the government's recapitalisation plan for state-run lenders and better-than-expected corporate earnings.

Bharti Airtel Ltd dropped 1.2 percent, after surging 11.5 percent last week on better-than-expected quarterly results. Shares of Housing Development Finance Corp Ltd was down 0.2 percent, ending a seven-straight session of gains.

Among gainers, jewellery retailer Titan Company Ltd surged nearly 25 percent to hit a record high after posting a 71 percent jump in September-quarter profit.

Union Bank of India Ltd rose as much as 6.1 percent despite posting a surprise second-quarter loss last week, as investors welcomed improvements in asset quality trends.

Meanwhile, mutual fund manager Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management Ltd saw a strong market debut, with shares surging as much as 18.65 percent. Assets under management of mutual funds have hit record highs this year helped by a bull market.

(Reporting by Vishal Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath)