Benchmark indices on Tuesday took a break after a six session rally as profit booking saw the Sensex and the Nifty ending marginally lower in the day.
Profit booking took place in mutual funds also as the segment witnessed outflows for the seventh month running in January.
Mutual fund investors withdrew over Rs 9,253 crore last month compared with Rs 10,147 crore in the previous month, data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) showed on Tuesday.
“January 2021 saw measured maturity-driven redemptions led by smart, goal-based investing and the desire to book profits with equity indices reaching all-time high,’’N S Venkatesh, chief executive, Amfi said.
He, however, added that inflows continued through the SIP route as reflected from the rising number of new registrations coupled with robust monthly SIP contribution. The total number of SIP accounts stood at 3,55,90,736 a rise of 8,78,314 over the previous month.
In addition, investors pulled out Rs 33,409 crore from debt mutual funds in January after investing Rs 13,863 crore in December 2020.
Overall, the mutual fund industry witnessed a net outflow of Rs 35,586 crore across all segments during the period under review, against inflows of Rs 2,968 crore seen in December on investment from hybrid and other schemes.
At the bourses, the 30-share Sensex again touched a record intra-day high of 51835.86. However, profit booking saw the index surrendering all its gains to close 19.69 points lower at 51329.08. At the NSE, the broader NSE Nifty dropped 6.50 points or 0.04 per cent to 15109.30. It touched a record peak of 15257.10 during the day.
Experts said with key events like the Union Budget and the monetary policy out of the way, equities could see volatility amid concerns of expensive valuations.
M&M was the top loser in the Sensex pack, falling 3.62 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance, ITC, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Finserv and TCS. Asian Paints, ONGC, Titan, L&T, Axis Bank and UltraTech Cement gained, by climbing up to 3.70 per cent.
