Mumbai, April 5: A day after witnessing a sharp rally, the Indian equities markets' key indices, Sensex and Nifty, declined on Tuesday due to profit booking in HDFC and HDFC Bank that had surged by nearly 10 per cent on Monday after the announcement of a merger deal.

The 30 stock S&P BSE Sensex was trading 259.12 points or 0.43 per cent down at 60,352.62 points against its previous day's close at 60,611.74 points. Earlier, the Sensex started the day on a positive note at 60,786.07 points. However, it slipped into red soon after opening of the trade due to profit booking in the stocks that had led the rally on Monday. The Sensex slipped to a low of 60,227.36 points in the morning trade. HDFC, HDFC Bank Shares Soar on Merger Announcement; Jump Up to 12% in Early Trade.

The Sensex had gained 1335.05 points or 2.25 per cent on Monday after HDFC and HDFC Bank announced a surprise merger deal. The broader Nifty 50 of the National Stock Exchange was trading 45.25 points or 0.25 per cent down at 18,008.15 points against its previous day's close at 18,053.40 points. The Nifty had gained 382.95 points or 2.17 per cent on Monday.

Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) and HDFC Bank that had led the stock market's rally on Monday, declined on profit booking. HDFC Bank slipped 2.60 per cent to Rs 1613.45. HDFC fell 1.63 per cent to Rs 2635.35. Both these stocks had gained nearly 10 per cent on Monday.

The index heavyweight Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) was trading 1.40 per cent down at Rs 2625.70. Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Kotak Bank, Wipro and Infosys were among the major Sensex losers.

ITC surged 2.06 per cent to Rs 260.60. Titan rose 1.59 per cent to Rs 2556.50. TCS was trading 1.30 per cent higher at Rs 3818.95. NTPC, HCL Technologies, Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever and Nestle India were among the major Sensex gainers.

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