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The NSE index Nifty fell over one per cent on Thursday, its biggest one-day fall in four months, as investors locked in profits on recent gains and as global markets were hit over swirling political uncertainty in the United States.
Global stocks fell as investors fled risky assets due to uncertainty over US President Donald Trump's ability to deliver on his tax and banking reforms and infrastructure spending.
Reports that Trump asked then-Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey to end a probe into the former national security adviser have raised questions over whether Trump tried to interfere with a federal investigation.
The broader NSE index lost 96.3 points or 1.01 per cent to end at 9,429.45, posting its biggest fall since January 20. The benchmark BSE index closed down 223.98 points or 0.73 per cent at 30,434.79, its biggest fall since May 5.
Both indexes had hit record highs in each of the previous three sessions
Among BSE sectoral indices, realty index fell the most by 3.12 per cent, followed by metal 2.76 per cent, power 2.14 per cent and capital goods 2.09 per cent. On the other hand, IT index was up 1.21 per cent and TECk 0.65 per cent.
Top five Sensex losers were Tata Motors (-2.55%), Axis Bank (-2.15%), Dr Reddy's (-1.96%), Bajaj Auto (-1.94%) and M&M (-1.92%), while the major gainers were Wipro (+3.47%), TCS (+3.38%), Infosys (+1.00%), Lupin (+0.61%) and Sun Pharma (+0.51%).
Trump turmoil
The dollar was stuck at six-month lows, while Wall Street posted the biggest intra-day slide since September, as pressure mounted on Trump with the US Justice Department appointing former FBI chief Robert Mueller to probe a possible collusion between his election campaign and Moscow.
But analysts said the fall could be a temporary consolidation after both the key indexes hit record highs earlier this week.
“However, there is nothing to panic about; the markets are more active now than, say, they were a fortnight ago. Investors who stuck to the sidelines are likely to re-enter the markets looking for a bargain hunt,” said Anand James, chief market strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
“After (NSE index) hitting 9,500 levels, there could be a short consolidation phase.”
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