SENSEX, NIFTY RETREAT FROM LIFE TIME HIGH LEVELS

Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty hit new life-time highs today but retreated on profit-booking in bluechips, including ICICI Bank, Wipro and Tata Motors, to log their first drop in nine sessions. The BSE Sensex ended down 145.10 points, or 0.55 per cent, to end at 26,126.75 after surging to 26,300.17 intra day. Yesterday, the 30-share bluechip benchmark had ended at its all-time closing high of 26,271.85 and had also hit intra-day high of 26,292.66. The NSE Nifty in early trade hit record 7,840.9 but ended below the key 7,800-mark to close at 7,790.45, down 40.15 points or 0.51 per cent. Its previous all-time high of 7,835.65 was hit yesterday. Marked losses in counters like RIL, SBI, HDFC Bank and Infosys also weighed on the market sentiment. Selling was seen mostly across-the-board as 10 out of 12 BSE sectoral indices closed in the red while only shares from healthcare and FMCG segments logged gains on defensive buying. "The Indian markets saw a day of decline after running up rapidly in the past few sessions," said Kiran Kumar Kavikondala, Director & CEO, WealthRays Securities. The mood seems to be cautious ahead of the expiry of Indian derivatives contract on July 31, traders said, adding that persisting fears about a spike in oil price on Middle East and Ukraine violence continues to spook investors. Both the indices had gained about 5 per cent in the previous eight sessions, their longest in recent times.

The Sensex had gained 1,264.87 points while Nifty 376.45 points in this period as overseas money chased encouraging corporate earnings. Receding fears about Monsoon, uptick in macroeconomic data and the government's reform push also contributed to the stupendous rally, said market analysts. Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) picked up shares worth a net Rs 161.55 crore yesterday, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges. For the week, Sensex rose 485 points and Nifty spiked 127 points.