Indian bourses reached their record highs in a span of two-years before reversing their gains during trade on Thursday. The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex hit its high of 29,145.62, but shed 145 points by the end of the trading session. The Nifty closed at 8,899 points after touching 8,976 at 9.31am. While favourable Gross Domestic Product numbers and global cues were responsible for the record performances, cues from profit booking and Brexit fears reversed the pattern.
Stakeholders in several sectors including real estate, power, banking, oil and gas, pharma and FMCG shares underwent selling pressure. On the Nifty index, Idea Cellular, Adani Ports, State Bank of India, Power Grid, ITC, Axis Bank, Sun Pharma and HDFC Bank trailed the performers’ list during the day’s trade.
The NSE exchange, which has already risen 10% this year, is expected to cross the 9,000-mark ahead of the Assembly elections results on March 11, which analysts believe will determine the next direction for the markets, according to NDTV Profit. The Nifty’s all-time high stands at 9,119 recorded on March 4, 2015.
Moreover, United States President Donald Trump’s first speech to Congress, in which he said he wanted to bring in a “massive” tax relief to boost the US economy, gave the Dow the impetus to cross the 21,000 mark. However, Indian markets are bracing for rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve, which will meet on March 14-15.
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