India’s benchmark indexes edged lower on Monday as profit-taking in financials near record highs outweighed optimism from easing geopolitical tensions and fresh foreign inflows.
The Nifty 50 shed 0.19% to 25,590.45 points and the BSE Sensex fell 0.22% to 83,876.90 as of 10:14 a.m. IST.
Seven of the 13 major sectors logged losses.
High-weight financials, which hit a record high on Friday, lost 0.4%.
The heaviest stock in the benchmark indexes HDFC Bank lost about 0.8%.
Financials, metals lift Indian benchmarks to weekly gains as geopolitical, trade fears ease
Meanwhile, small- and mid-cap indexes outperformed, rising 0.5% and 0.3%, respectively. Both the benchmarks are trading just about 2.5% below record high levels.
They have gained about 3.5% in June, to take their overall rise to about 15% since the start of March.
“Many promoters, private equity funds and early foreign investors are likely booking profits as markets approach the record high levels and valuations get stretched, spurring a pause in the rally,” said G Chokkalingam, founder and head of research at Equinomics Research.
Other Asian markets were also subdued, while the dollar softened on bets that weaker US jobs data could prompt deeper rate cuts.
Among individual stocks, Karnataka Bank tumbled 7% after the chief executive officer Srikrishnan Hari Hara Sarma resigned citing personal reasons.
Executive Director Sekhar Rao also stepped down. Torrent Pharma rose about 4% before paring most of the gains.
The drug maker signed definitive agreements to buy a controlling 46.4% stake in JB Chemicals from private equity firm KKR at 1,600 rupees per share, a 11% discount to JB Chemicals’ Friday close.
On the flipside, Alembic Pharma jumped 9.5% after getting US drug regulator’s nod for an injection used to treat certain types of cancer including ovarian cancer.
ITD Cementation gained 4.1% after securing a $67.4 million international marine contract.
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