Indian Stocks Fall Marginally On Profit Booking After Hitting Several Highs

New Delhi [India] : Indian stock indices traded marginally lower Thursday morning, primarily due to profit booking after the latest bull run.

Sensex and Nifty were 0.2 per cent lower. The indices touched yet another fresh high yesterday and the benchmark Sensex in the process crossed the 67,000 mark. All the Nifty sectoral indices were in the green, with Nifty bank, Nifty financial services, Nifty media, Nifty PSU bank, Nifty consumer durables, and Nifty oil and gas rising the most.

In the past month, the indices – Sensex and Nifty — cumulatively gained about 6 percentage points.

Several analysts have pointed out that any further rally from the current levels is unlikely as valuations are higher. “Even when the market is scaling new highs and the undercurrent is positive, there are strong views that the current high valuations cannot be sustained for long. It is important to understand that the DIIs (domestic institutional investors) are not bullish about the market at the current elevated valuations,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

The consistent inflow of foreign portfolio funds, firm economic outlook, firm global markets, and a relative moderation in inflation contributed to the latest bull run in Indian stocks.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have remained net buyers in Indian stock markets for the fifth straight month, according to data from the National Securities Depository (NSDL). FPIs bought Indian stocks worth Rs 7,936 crore, Rs 11,631 crore, Rs 43,838 crore, and Rs 47,148 crore in March, April, May, and June, respectively. The trend is also firm in July as they bought Rs 36,971 crore worth of equities.