Sensex tanks 668 points on profit-booking

Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty declined nearly 1 per cent on Wednesday, falling for the fourth day running amid profit-taking by cautious investors ahead of the results of the Lok Sabha polls.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 667.55 points or 0.89 per cent to settle at 74,502.90.

It went below the 75,000 mark to hit the day's low of 74,454.55, plunging 715.9 points or 0.95 per cent.

The BSE benchmark hit its all-time peak of 76,009.68 on May 27.

The NSE Nifty dropped 183.45 points or 0.80 per cent to 22,704.70.

The 50-share barometer hit its lifetime high of 23,110.80 on Monday.

From the Sensex pack, Tech Mahindra, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Bank, UltraTech Cement, Axis Bank, Reliance Industries and Infosys were the biggest laggards.

Power Grid, Sun Pharma, Nestle, ITC and Bharti Airtel were the gainers.

"Weak global cues prompted investors to take profits ahead of the US core PCE data, a key gauge of inflation that is anticipated to rise," Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Financial Services said.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong settled lower while Shanghai ended with gains.

European markets were trading lower. US markets ended on a mixed note on Tuesday.

The last phase of polling is scheduled for June 1.

The results of the ongoing general elections will be declared on June 4.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.88 per cent to $84.94 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 65.57 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

Giving thumbs up to the economic management of the Modi government, S&P Global Ratings after a gap of 14 years upgraded India's sovereign rating outlook to positive from stable on robust growth, improved quality of public spending in last 5 years and expectation of broad continuity in reforms and fiscal policies.

S&P, however, retained India's sovereign rating at the lowest investment grade of 'BBB-'.