Indian stock markets closed lower on Thursday, with the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex closing 114.77 points down to end at 28,106.21 and the National Stock Exchange Nifty ending 34.40 points lower at 8,709.55, NDTV reported. The markets fell for the second day in a row as profit booking – the selling of shares to realise gains – continued.
The banking, auto and information technology sectors saw the biggest losses of the day. The Bank of Baroda's stocks fell by 3% on the Nifty, with companies such as ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, the State Bank of India and Tech Mahindra also seeing a drop in their share prices. The BSE healthcare index fell 1%, as well.
However, energy stocks did well in the day's trading, with GAIL India, ONGC and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited gaining between 1% and 3.5% on the Nifty. Head of research at Geojit BNP Paribas, Vinod Nair, said investors' focus will shift to corporate quarter earnings, "which will start next week", according to Business Standard.
Nair said the publication of payroll and employment data by the United States on Friday will "shape up the expectation" for a "rate hike scenario" by the country's Federal Reserve. On Wednesday, markets fell even as the International Monetary Fund said India's gross domestic product will grow by 7.6% in 2016-'17, which led to markets making early gains before falling.
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