The market came off its five-week high as the benchmark Sensex on Thursday recorded its first drop in seven sessions, falling by about 171 points, even as the Nifty cracked below the 7,500-mark due to profit-booking amid mixed global leads.
The 30-share gauge opened higher and rose further before profit-booking in recent gainers took hold, which pulled it down to 24,623.34 at the close, loss of 170.62 points, or 0.69 per cent. Some strength in the rupee prevented further blows.
The index had risen about 1,792 points in the past six sessions, its longest winning run since October last year. The 50-share NSE Nifty broke below the crucial 7,500 level and settled lower by 45.65 points, or 0.61 per cent, at 7,486.15.
Intra-day, it shuttled between 7,447.40 and 7,547.10. The upmove in the previous six sessions mostly came on the back of continued foreign fund inflows and expectations that RBI would reduce the policy rate.