Though bulls almost scaled the record 26,000 level on Thursday, profit-booking in oil & gas, metal and power shares dragged it down to log the first drop in five days. Sensex had resumed with strength at 0915 hours and surged over 83 points to hit another record-high of 25,924.25 points in opening trade but trading was halted at about 0935 hours and it remained disrupted for three hours due to network outage.
Almost 450 stocks hit their one-year highs. A total of 447 stocks touched their 52-week highs on the BSE, including lupin, Ranbaxy lab, Strides Arcolab, Sun Pharma, Tata Motors, Tech Mahindra and TVS Motor. But, there was weakness in shares of RIl, ONGC, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, Maruti Suzuki, SBI and ICICI Bank.
The S&P BSE Sensex closed at 25,823.75, down 17.46 points from Wednesday's close, after hitting life-time high of 25,999.08. Intra-day, the Sensex hit a low of 25,793.70.The index had gained over 778 points in the previous four days on rising hopes of a growth-oriented Budget next week. The NSE 50-share Nifty today moved down 10.35 points, or 0.13 per cent, to finish at 7,714.80 after hitting all-time high level of 7,754.65 in early trade.
“Markets were seen making a positive start on Thursday, extending its northward journey as sentiments got some support from Agriculture Minister's statement that Monsoon will pick up pace next week and the Government is prepared to deal with any eventuality in case of a shortfall.