Nifty Hits New High, but Closes in Red Ahead of Fed Meet
economictimes.indiatimes.comstocks gave up early gains in a sharp selloff in the last hour of trading. The Nifty hit an all-time high during the trading session but could not sustain the bullish momentum with traders cutting their bets ahead of the US Federal Reserve's policy meeting on Wednesday. India's stock market will be shut on Wednesday for Maharashtra Day.
NSE's Nifty closed at 22,604.85 on Tuesday, down 38.55 points, or 0.17%, after making a fresh lifetime high of 22,783.35 during the day. BSE's Sensex declined 188.5 points, or 0.25%, to end at 74,482.78. The index's Tuesday high of 75,111.39 was 13 points short of its all-time high. Both indices had risen as much as 0.6% during the session.
«Investors appear to have lightened their positions ahead of the US FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) meeting this week,» said Aamar Deo Singh, Sr. vice president of research at Angel One. «Further, today being Bank Nifty weekly expiry, added to the selloff.»
The Fed is expected to keep interest rates unchanged on Wednesday but investors are more keen to get insights into when the US central bank would start easing rates in the face of stubborn inflation.
The Volatility Index, or VIX, rose 5.2% to 12.87 on Tuesday after gaining 12% the previous day when the Sensex and Nifty surged 1% each, suggesting traders see near-term risks to the market.
Despite the caution, the market is expected to hit new records soon.
«We saw some profit booking soon after Nifty tested new lifetime highs but we do not see this as negative for the markets,» said
