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The Sensex and the Nifty ended the session near flat due to profit-taking by funds and retail investors after hitting record highs in the previous session.
The 30-share BSE index ended at 23,815.12, down 56.11 points and the 50-share NSE index Nifty ended at 7,108.75, down 0.00 point.
Sectoral indices
Among BSE sectoral indices, oil & gas, capital goods, IT and healthcare indices lost investors' support and were down 0.78 per cent, 0.36 per cent, 0.31 per cent and 0.3 per cent, respectively.
On the other hand, realty and metal indices were the star-performers and were up 4.32 per cent and 3.22 per cent, respectively, followed by consumer durables 2.28 per cent and power 0.83 per cent.
Tata Steel, Coal India, Bajaj Auto, ITC and NTPC were the top five Sensex gainers, while the top five losers were Dr Reddy's, M&M, HDFC, HDFC Bank and RIL.
After surging to new highs on Tuesday on the back of exit polls showing that BJP-led NDA would form the next government, the Sensex and the Nifty opened the session flat to positive showing signs of consolidation at current levels. The Nifty opened three points up at 7,112, while the Sensex opened 17 points up at 2,3898.
Dipen Shah, Head- Private Client Group Research, Kotak Securities, said: “Expectations are now of a stable Government at the Centre and that has raised hopes of better growth for the economy. The markets have risen based largely on these expectations.
We believe that, the new Government’s intent and announcements pertaining to fiscal and investment reforms will be critical for the sentiment of the markets to be sustained, in the short-term. We do believe that the FY15 growth rates will likely improve only modestly and strong growth can be expected to return in FY16 and beyond.”
Record highs
The Sensex crossed the 24,000 mark in intra-day trade on Tuesday to close at a third consecutive new high of 23,871, up 320 points or 1 per cent . The Nifty too hit a new intra-day high of 7,172.35 to end the day at a fresh record of 7,109 after zooming up by 95 points or 1 per cent.
The exit polls on Monday night showed between 249 to 290 seats to the Narendra Modi-led alliance which is close to the half-way mark in the 543-member Lok Sabha.
European stocks fell, after the Stoxx Europe 600 Index had yesterday climbed to a six-year high, as investors weighed earnings and equity valuations.
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