The Sensex and Nifty, which registered fresh lifetime highs today after a surprise repo rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India, ended lower due to profit-booking in banking stocks. Selling pressure in metal, oil & gas, power, IT and auto stocks also added to the downward pressure on the benchmark indices.
Both Sensex and Nifty had risen nearly 3 per cent in the previous four sessions on Budget announcements, which were mostly viewed positively by market participants.
In early trade, the Sensex had hit the 30,000 for first time by gaining over 400 points and the Nifty touched a life high of 9,119 after the RBI chief Raghuram Rajan in a surprise move decided to cut repo rate by 25 basis points.
The Sensex closed 213 points lower at 29,381, after hitting at its day's low. The 50-share Nifty plunged 74 points to end at 8,922 levels.
The repo rate cut came just days after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's Union Budget announcement. In his Budget, Mr Jaitley had loosened the reins on public spending to drive growth, but promised lower-than-expected borrowing despite raising the fiscal deficit target.
Commenting on today's fall, Rahul Shah, vice president (equity advisory group) at Motilal Oswal Securities said, "Technically 9000 on Nifty was looking as a heavy congestion level. It was looking difficult for Nifty to sustain."
Banking stocks led the decline with banking index Bank Nifty falling 1.5 per cent. Strong selling pressure was also seen in IT, metal and energy stocks.
Among banking stocks, SBI, PNB, Bank of Baroda and IndusInd Bank fell nearly 3 per cent. Metal stocks Sesa Sterlite and NMDC slumped over 4 per cent.
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