Sensex, Nifty witness profit taking in Muhurat Trading

The BSE Sensex traded 25 points or 0.15 per cent lower at 18,645 in a special trading session on Tuesday. The broader Nifty traded 12 points lower at 5,672 at 3.47 p.m.

The 75-minute Muhurat Trading Session for the Samvat year 2069 will end at 5 p.m. The special trading session is conducted to pay obeisance to Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity. It also marks the New Year for traders as per the Hindu calendar, or Samvat 2069. The tradition of Muhurat trading dates back over a century.

Bharti Airtel was the top gainer on the Nifty rising 0.9 per cent. Drug maker Cipla and aluminium maker Hindalco were the other notable gainers.

32 of the Nifty-50 stocks traded lower. Cement maker Jaiprakash Associates was the top loser, down 2.4 per cent. Realty major DLF declined over 2 per cent after Q2 net profit fell 63 per cent.

UltraTech Cement, the year's biggest gainer, traded 1.6 per cent lower.

On the broader BSE 500, Kingfisher Airlines traded 1.7 per cent higher. However, United Spirits shares saw profit booking. The stock traded 2.3 per cent lower after surging 35 per cent on Monday.

Volumes are likely to be thin in the special trading session. Transactions done during the Muhurat Trading Session will be settled as a separate settlement.

Shares bought on November 12 should not be sold on November 13 as trades done on both these days will be settled together on November 16. The timings for pay-in schedule for stocks sold on November 12 and November 13 will be at 09.30 a.m. and 1.30 p.m. respectively on November 16, 2012 respectively.

The daily mark to market settlement for Futures and premium settlement for Options, for trades done in F&O Segment on November 13 will take place on November 15.