After scaling the 18,000-point mark to reach its highest level in 25 months, a key Indian equity market index opened lower Thursday, as investors resorted to profit taking.
The sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) that closed Wednesday at 17,970.02 points opened at 17,950.56 points and crawled to 17,960.91 points. Later, it was ruling at 17,920.12 points, with a loss of 49.90 points, or 0.28 percent.
The index had reached 18,047.86 points during intra-day trading Wednesday, which was the highest since February 2008.
Twenty-one out of 30 stocks that comprise the Sensex were ruling lower and only eight managed to trade in the green. Among the 13 sector-specific indices, as many as eight were in the red.
At the National Stock Exchange, the broader 50-share S&P CNX Nifty was ruling at 5,360.70 points, with a loss of 13.95 points, or 0.26 percent over the previous close.