Wednesday, July 20 2005 17:30 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: Flattering to deceive, the Sensex today (July 20, 2005) once again climbed to new record peaks at 7392.67 before profit taking corrected it down to negative tarrain with a marginal loss of four points.

The BSE Benchmark 30-share Index opened firm at 7373.94 and surged up to the intra-day high of 7392.67 before heavy sell-off dragged it down to close the day at 7342.89 against yesterday's close of 7346.63, a net loss of 3.74 points.

Continuing the record-breaking spree, the Sensex hit a new lifetime intra-trade peaks of 7392.67 for the third consecutive day.

Initially, operators and traders reportedly made good purchases in select heavy weighted counters but preferred to book profit at the fag end despite sustained FII inflows, which are relatively higher than the corresponding period last year.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) reported net investments of Rs 368.40 crore on Monday. FIIs have pumped in over Rs 24,450 crore in the current calendar year so far.

Discounting a firm trend on Wall Street last night and up trend in south east Asian markets during the day, operators turned heavy sellers during last thirty minutes of trading in a bid to book profits at the higher levels, brokers said.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite Index yesterday ended up by 71.57 points and 28.31 points respectively.

Heavy weighted stocks like RIL, Grasim, BHEL, L&T, Satyam Computers and SBI registered handsome gains.

Metal stocks attracted keen demand in response to firm trend in international metal prices.