The Sensex on Monday crossed 76000 for the first time only to get into a wobble as poll uncertainty gripped investors, with the fear gauge — volatility index VIX — creeping up to a 22-month high of 26.19.

The record dividend from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last week spurred banking shares and the benchmarks sizzled, till the Nifty VIX came into play.

The 30-share gauge began on a higher ground at 75655.46 and crossed 76000 to hit an all-time peak of 76009.68 in intra-day trades.

However, profit booking in FMCG, auto and energy shares saw the index decline around 835 points from the day’s high to hit a low of 75175.27. It subsequently ended at 75290.50, marking a loss of 19.89 points or 0.03 per cent.

A similar picture prevailed on the NSE where the broader Nifty rallied 153.7 points or 0.66 per cent to hit a lifetime high of 23110.80.

However, it cracked 239.60 points to hit a low of 22871.20. The index later ended at 22932.45, showing a decline of 24.65 points or 0.11 per cent.

Broking circles said losses in Reliance and ITC contributed to the indices closing in the negative territory.

While shares of RIL ended 0.92 per cent lower at ₹2,932.45, ITC saw cuts of 1.05 per cent to settle at ₹431.50.

They added that investors are still preferring to play safe in the run-up to the election results.

Amid doubts over how many seats the ruling party could win, investors have been selling at higher levels with the intention of returning back should the current government win an handsome majority. Results of the general polls will be declared on June 4.

The Sensex breached the 75000-mark for the first time on April 9, and it took 31 trading sessions for the benchmark to reach 76000. On the other hand, the path from 74000 to 75000 took 21 trading sessions.

“The bulls are facing stiff resistance at 23000 levels as investors start booking profit at higher levels to avoid any knee-jerk reaction in the market ahead of the election result."

"Better earnings growth, the expectation of a revival in private capex and a moderation in FIIs selling intensity are the key positive triggers in the market,” Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Financial Services, said.

Liquidity push

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday continued with its liquidity infusing methods by holding a ₹75,000 crore four-day variable rate repo (VRR) auction.

The auction received a good response as the central bank got bids for ₹97,885 crore. Of this, the RBI allotted ₹75,007 crore at a cut-off rate of 6.52 per cent. The policy repo rate stands at 6.50 per cent.

One-paise call

In a move to boost liquidity and improve price discovery on the bourses, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) has decided to introduce one paisa tick size for all stocks priced below ₹250 from June 10. The tick size for these stocks is five paise, at present.

Tick size is the minimum price increment between consecutive bid (buy) and offer (sell) prices.