Money on the markets

The Sensex closed marginally lower after a choppy session on Tuesday, as investors booked profits after the market rose over 10 percent in the previous two sessions.

The benchmark closed 3.6 points down at 12,131.08, while the Nifty ended 0.2 percent higher at 3,661.90.

Wipro, India’s No. 3 software services exporter, said it had won an outsourcing contract from telecoms firm Unitech Wireless. Shares in Wipro ended 1 percent higher at 368.40 rupees.

The Sensex fall was led by HDFC, Infosys, ITC and Reliance Industries.

Share in Larsen & Toubro closed 2.7 percent higher. L&T and the defence and security division of EADS are in talks to form a joint venture to make defence electronics in India.

On the sectoral front, the BSE Realty Index gained nearly 8.6 percent. This was followed by the Metal Index which ended up 3.5 percent. However, the IT index closed the day in the red, dropping 2.1 percent.

In today’s trade, FIIs bought net $295.60 million in India shares and sold $70.20 million in debt.

Do you think the market uptrend, seen in the past two sessions, will continue despite today’s pause?