Sensex breaches 50,000-mark, closes lower on profit-booking

Mumbai, January 21

The BSE Sensex scaled the 50,000-mark for the first time on Thursday on growth optimism and global cues, but succumbed to profit-booking in fag-end trade to finish in the red.

Weighed by selling in banking, finance and IT counters, the Sensex ended 167.36 points lower at 49,624.76. Similarly, the Nifty slipped 54.35 points to close at 14,590.35.

ONGC was the top loser, followed by Airtel, SBI, NTPC, Sun Pharma and ITC.

On the other hand, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Auto, RIL, Bajaj Finserv and Asian Paints were among the gainers, climbing up to 2.72%.

“Sensex at 50K is great news not only for the market and investors but for the economy also. Markets are barometers of the economy with the potential to discount the future. If this is true, the Indian economy is on a strong recovery path. If the recovery in growth and corporate earnings gather momentum, the markets may further surprise on the upside,”said V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services. — PTI