Nifty Edges Lower After Hitting a New High, PSU Banks Drag

BSE Sensex and Nifty edged lower after a flat opening on Wednesday as traders continue to book profit in recent gainers after six days of rally.
Shares in Dena bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) fell as low as 5 per cent on reports that Mumbai-based branches of these banks have misappropriated funds to the tune of Rs. 436 crore.
The report also weighed on other public sector banks. The PSU bank sub-index of National Stock Exchange was down 1.25 per cent.
Except IT and pharma all other major sub-indexes were in red. The pharma sub-index gained 1.3 per cent whereas the IT index gained 0.3 per cent as the dollar strengthened against all major currencies.
Dr. Reddy's Lab gained nearly 1.5 per cent, after a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday showed market share of Dr. Reddy's Lab gained in key drugs in the US market. Dr. Reddy's Lab and Sun Pharma were the top gainers in Nifty.
Just Dial gained over 3 per cent as the company's board sought shareholder's nod to increase foreign investment limit to 75 per cent from 49 per cent.
As of 11.25 a.m. Sensex was down 56 points at 26,364 whereas Nifty traded 17 points lower at 7,881.
Out of 50 shares in Nifty 19 stocks advance and 31 shares decline.