Correction forces Sensex to trail by over 50 points

With profit-booking catching up the stock markets this afternoon, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensitive Index (Sensex) was down by more than 50 points at 8,734 points compared to yesterday's record close at 8,799.96 points at 1300 hrs.

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) S&P CNX Nifty was trading 19 points lower at 2,644 points at 1300 hrs compared to its last close at 2,663 points on Tuesday.

Earlier in the morning, Sensex opened 15 points up at 8,815.67 from its last close at 8,799.96 points, then it went up to 8,821.84 points before falling below 8,800-level.

Among the top gainers this afternoon were Ranbaxy, Tata Power, NTPC, BHEL, Grasim Industries, Wipro, Gujarat Ambuja, HDFC, Dr Reddy's Lab, and Larsen & Toubro.

The top losers this afternoon were Hindalco, ITC, ICICI Bank, Satyam Computers, Bajaj Auto, HDFC Bank, Tata Motors, HLL, SBI and ACC.

Most of the BSE indices were trading lower this afternoon, BSE bankex was trailing by 1.36 per cent, BSE FMCG index by 1.58 per cent and BSE Metal index by 1.26 per cent.

BSE Small and Midcap indices were also trailing this afternoon.

The crude oil prices at US 64 dollars a barrel will support the market at the current level compared to its earlier price of above USD 66 a barrel.