Profit-taking erodes intraday gains in markets

Domestic equity benchmarks extended gains for a sixth straight session on Thursday, with the Nifty briefly crossing the 26,000-mark after a year, driven by optimism over a potential trade deal with the US and upbeat corporate earnings for the July-September quarter.

- SUNDAR SETHURAMAN

However, profit-taking erased much of the day’s advance, leaving the indices with modest gains when the markets closed.

The Sensex rose 1.02 per cent intraday before settling at 84,556 — up 130 points, or 0.2 per cent. The Nifty crossed 26,000 for the first time since September 30, 2024, but ended at 25,891, up 23 points, or 0.09 per cent. Both indices have added around 3 per cent over the past six sessions. However, the rally lacked breadth with 2,464 stocks declining against 1,809 advancing on BSE.

The total market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms slipped by ₹60,000 crore to ₹470 trillion.

Investor wealth rose by ₹10.6 trillion over the past six sessions, while the benchmark indices were only 1.5 per cent shy of new lifetime highs.