Markets give up early gains; trade lower amid profit-taking

New Delhi: Stock markets gave up early gains and slipped in the negative territory on Wednesday after a seven-day rally due to emergence of profit-taking.

The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex climbed 150.68 points to 78,167.87 in early trade. The NSE Nifty went up by 67.85 points to 23,736.50.

Later, both indices gave up the gains and were trading lower. The BSE benchmark traded 73.05 points lower at 77,928.26, and the Nifty quoted 37.55 points down at 23,631.10.

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From the Sensex pack, Zomato, NTPC, Tech Mahindra, Maruti, Bajaj Finance, Larsen & Toubro, Sun Pharma, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Infosys were among the laggards.

IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finserv, Power Grid, Adani Ports and Mahindra & Mahindra were among the major gainers.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading in the positive territory.

US markets ended higher on Tuesday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 5,371.57 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

"Even with the April 2 reciprocal tariff day looming large the market has turned resilient indicating further upside. This will happen if the reciprocal tariffs are less stringent than feared.

"The fundamental support to the market comes from India’s improving macros and the FIIs turning buyers," VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.26 per cent to USD 73.21 a barrel.

The BSE benchmark gained 32.81 points or 0.04 per cent to settle at 78,017.19 on Tuesday. The Nifty eked out gains of 10.30 points or 0.04 per cent to 23,668.65.

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