Indian market retreats from record highs on profit-booking last week

FE Team | Published: July 27, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

MUMBAI, July 26 (Business Standard): Markets were on a firm footing for the week ended July 25, supported by continuous buying from foreign institutional buyers and robust global cues, which lifted the benchmark indices to fresh record highs.
On Thursday, the Sensex registered its longest eight-day rally in the last almost two-years. The 30-share Sensex, surged 1,265 points between July 15 and July 24.
Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) chopped its 2014 forecast for global economic growth to take into account weakness early in the year in the US and China. Out of the BRICS countries, only India avoided an IMF ratings downgrade, as business sentiments recovered after the Narendra Modi-led government took over.
Another major development was Finance Minister Arun Jaitley approved 49 per cent foreign investment in insurance companies through the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB). This move will help insurance firms to get the much-needed capital from overseas partners.
Over the last five trading sessions, the Sensex gained 485 points or two per cent to close at 26,127 and the Nifty advanced 127 points or 1.7 per cent to close the week at 7,790. Both the indices had hit a record high of 26,300 and 7,841 on the last trading day of the week.
However, profit booking was visible in the broader markets for the second consecutive week, as both the Mid-cap and Small-cap indices closed in red. The Small-cap Index was down 1.4 per cent and the Mid-cap Index lost nearly one per cent.
Defensives continued to be the preferred area of interest as IT, FMCG and Health Care indices emerged as the top sectoral gainers with gains ranging between 2.6-4.2 per cent.
Meanwhile, high beta segments like Power, Realty, Capital Goods and PSU scrips fell off the buying radar with the respective indices down 1.6-3.4 per cent over the last five trading sessions.
Profit-taking was also visible in Auto, Metal, Consumer Durables and banking spaces.