Sensex falls 135 points to end at 39,140, Nifty also slips by 34 points

The benchmark BSE Sensex extended its record run by rising over 200 points in early trade on Thursday but ended 135.36 points lower at 39,140.28. The NSE Nifty too soared to another record high of 11,856 in early session and dropped 34.35 points in the end at 11,752.80.

In the previous session on Tuesday, the BSE bourse marked its lifetime closing high of 39,275.64. Similarly, the broader Nifty too settled at a new record closing level of 11,787.15.

According to Sunil Sharma, Chief Investment Officer at Sanctum Wealth Management, robust foreign inflows have been the primary reason behind a steep rally in Indian markets over the last few weeks. “Earnings growth and election outcome will be key monitorables going forward.”

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased equity worth Rs 1,038.58 crore on Tuesday, and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities to the tune of Rs 37.22 crore, provisional data available with stock exchanges showed.

The benchmark indices had closed at record highs on Tuesday on earnings optimism and forecast of a near-normal monsoon. Markets were closed Wednesday for Mahavir Jayanti.

Top losers in the Sensex pack included Yes Bank, Vedanta, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, L&T, SBI, NTPC, Kotak Bank, HDFC, HDFC Bank, PowerGrid, Infosys and ITC, falling up to 4.18 per cent.

On the other hand, RIL was the biggest gainer on the index, rising 2.79 per cent ahead of its Q4 results.

Tata Motors, Asian Paints, TCS, Coal India, Hero MotoCorp, Axis Bank and HUL also ended in the green, rising up to 2.32 per cent.

Meanwhile, the rupee appreciated marginally to 69.60 against the US dollar in early trade. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, was 0.08 per cent lower at USD 71.56 per barrel. Elsewhere in Asia, benchmark equity indices in Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul were trading in the red in early trade.