Markets snap five-session winning spree on profit-booking, weak global cues

Investors turned cautious and preferred to log profits in recent gainers, dragging down key indices.

New Delhi: Markets snapped five-session winning spree on profit booking amidst weak global cues on Tuesday.

The BSE 30-share barometer dropped 134.05 points, or 0.37 percent, to 36,444.91 in early trade. The gauge had rallied over 725 points in the previous five sessions. Similarly, the NSE Nifty index too slipped by 45.90 points, or 0.42 percent, to 10,915.95.

Major losers were Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank, Vedanta, M&M, Yes Bank, Bajaj Auto, Coal India, Maruti Suzuki, RIL, Axis Bank, Infosys, HCL Tech, HDFC, HDFC Bank, PowerGrid, Asian Paint, HUL and SBI, falling up to 1.70 percent.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) continued their selling activity on domestic bourses here. They sold shares worth a net Rs 29.79 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) made purchases to the tune of Rs 520.80 crore Monday, provisional data showed.

The rupee edged 5 paise higher to 71.23 against the US dollar in early session at the interbank forex market Tuesday on fresh selling of the American currency by exporters and banks.

Asian shares and US stock futures slipped on Tuesday as pessimism about world growth drove investors away from risky assets, a Reuters report said.

MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.5 percent, drifting away from a recent seven-week top. Hong Kong`s Hang Seng index was down 0.4 percent and Australia`s main share index faltered 0.5 percent.

Japan`s Nikkei, which had opened firmer, was flat. US stock futures, which offer an indication of how Wall Street will open, were down about 0.5 percent.

With Agency Inputs