Sensex, Nifty Pause After Hitting Record Highs

Sensex and Nifty ended lower on Thursday after hitting record highs the previous day as investors took a breather and booked profits in recent outperformers such as ITC Ltd, while Axis Bank fell on a drop in quarterly profit.

Asian shares also eased as a long-awaited U.S. tax cut plan unveiled by Donald Trump on Wednesday failed to inspire investors.

Investors were also cautious as monthly derivative contracts expired at the end of the session.

Still, broader sentiment remained positive, given hopes for improving corporate profits and accelerating economic growth in India.

The broader Nifty hit an all-time high for the second straight session on Wednesday, when the benchmark Sensex too touched a record high, surpassing its previous record set in March 2015.

"After a big run-up in the market and after reaching record highs, there is always a tendency for some profit booking," said V.K. Vijayakumar, chief market strategist at Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.

The Sensex fell 104 points to settle at 30,030 and Nifty declined 10 points or 0.1 per cent to close at 9,342.

Shares of ITC fell 1.75 percent to close at Rs 285.80 after a three-day winning streak and was among the biggest losers on the NSE index.

Financial stocks also fell, led by the country's third-biggest private sector lender by assets, Axis Bank Ltd.

Axis Bank fell as much as 2.7 percent after reporting a 43 percent drop in fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday.

The broader markets also traded on a muted note in today's session with BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices closing almost unchanged.