Mumbai, Nov 10(NDTV): BSE Sensex and Nifty struggled for momentum in afternoon trade after hitting new highs in early session. In the early session, Sensex rose over 150 points to hit a new high of 28,027 while Nifty moved to a new high of 8,383.

Profit-taking was seen in some bluechips at higher levels. ICICI Bank fell 0.8 per cent while Tata Motors declined 1.2 per cent. Larsen & Toubro fell 2.5 per cent after the company's July-September earnings lagged some estimates. Some profit-taking was seen in IT stocks with HCL Tech and Tech Mahindra down over 1 per cent.

Shares in cigarette manufacturer ITC jumped 2.5 per cent as traders said the shift of Dr Harsh Vardhan from the Health Ministry is a positive for the tobacco industry. The stock has underperformed the broader markets over the last six months because of a clamp down on the tobacco industry.

Pharma stocks saw strong buying action today with Sun Pharma rising nearly 4 per cent. Sun Pharma got a boost after its Taro Pharma unit reported a 22 per cent sales growth in Q2. Taro contributes to around 25-30 per cent of Sun Pharma's overall topline. Sun Pharma announces its quarterly numbers on Thursday. Among other pharma stocks, Dr Reddy's and Lupin were up over 1 per cent.

Also weighing on the index was a over 3 per cent fall in index heavyweight ONGC, which was the biggest loser among Nifty stocks.

At 1:50 pm, Sensex was down 40 points to 27,828 while Nifty fell 12 points to 8,324.