BSE Sensex continues downslide, loses 118 points on profit booking

FMCG majors ITC and Hindustan Unilever (HUL) gained 1.90 percent and 0.02 percent to close at Rs.224.90 and Rs.248.20 respectively.

India's third largest bank, HDFC Bank rose 0.66 percent to Rs.1539.90 while top mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) advanced 0.30 percent to Rs.2718.15.

Other gainers were Tata Steel (up 1.73 percent to Rs.816.40), ONGC (up 0.46 percent to Rs.1043.75), Ambuja Cements (up 0.22 percent to Rs.111.40) and Cipla (up 0.12 percent to Rs.248.20).

Except for IT, FMCG and Metal counters, the remaining sectoral indices ended in the red. The worst performers were Realty and Power, slipping 4.63 percent and 2.15 percent respectively.

The BSE Midcap as well as the Smallcap indices ended lower, slipping 0.94 percent and 1.09 percent to 7230.31 and 8749.24 respectively.

The BSE market breadth was overall negative as 965 shares advanced, 1722 shares declined and 68 shares remained unchanged.

The broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) slipped 0.92 percent or 47.60 points to 5,144.65. The index touched a high of 5206.50 and a low of 5110.90 during intraday trade.

"The market is still cautious and people always want to book some profit after a 15-20 percent rise," said Dipak Acharya, a fund manager at BoB Mutual Fund.

"We have a mixed bag sort of situation right now as investors are churning their portfolios. So there is profit booking in some high beta stocks, while certain neglected sectors and stocks are being bought into. Overall, I expect this range-bound situation to continue till the next fortnight," said Anand Kuchelan, senior analyst - derivatives and strategy, PINC Research.

As crude oil hit a record near $121 per barrel, the rupee declined to 41 per dollar, its lowest in more than eight months. The currency has lost 3.85 percent against the dollar so far this year, after rising more than 12 percent in 2007.