Sensex, Nifty come off higher levels as profit taking creeps in

With stocks swinging between gains and losses amid alternate bouts of buying and selling, the market is a bit sluggish today, although it manages to hold on in positive territory.Optimism about the economy and hopes that the government will speed up reforms continue to keep investor sentiment upbeat. Profit taking after recent gains appears to be limiting the upside of several stocks.The Sensex is now up 85 points or 0.3% at 29,670.85, more than 150 points off the day’s high of 29,824.62. The Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange, which rose to a new high at 9218.40, is now at 9160.75, up just 7.05 points or 0.08% from its previous close. The Nifty50’s underperformance is due to losses posted by some non-Sensex stocks including Idea Cellular (down 3.7%), Bank of Baroda (down 2%), Tata Motors DVR (down 1.8%), Hindalco (down 1.5%), Bharti Infratel (down 1.2%), Grasim Industries (down 1.2%) and Zee Entertainment Enterprises (down 1%).Bharti Airtel, the most prominent loser in the Sensex, is down by about 3%. State Bank of India is down 1.9% and Tata Motors is lower by 1.4%. Larsen & Toubro, ICICI Bank, NTPC and Asian Paints are also notably lower.