Indian stocks fall on profit booking; defence stocks on radar as PM Modi visits US

New Delhi [India], June 20 : Indian stock indices traded lower Tuesday morning primarily due to profit-booking investors after gains. Sensex and Nifty were about 0.4 per cent lower each at the time of writing this report.

However, strong fundamentals including a firm GDP outlook, moderate inflation and strong purchases by foreign investors are positive for markets. The stock indices are near their all-time highs.

The fact that the US central bank's latest monetary policy stance - which finally paused the interest rate after raising it for over a year - also supported investors' sentiment over the past few sessions.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's US visit and possible defence collaboration between the two countries have brought back focus to defence stocks in India.

Defence stocks have performed quite strong, in fact, many turned multi-bagger, over the past few years due to the government's aggressive indigenous manufacturing push.

"Markets are shying away from the record high due to intermediate volatility in the banking majors. We recommend maintaining a positive tone and focusing on other key sectors like auto, FMCG, energy, and selectively in midcap & smallcap space for fresh longs," said Ajit Mishra, SVP - Technical Research, Religare Broking Ltd.

Further, the Indian rupee has been exhibiting strength recently, supported by strong foreign fund inflows and favourable domestic macroeconomic data. Today, Rupee traded below 82 per US dollar.

"Indian equities shied away from closing at all-time high levels amid profit booking, primarily driven by private banks. Global markets also took a breather after a strong rally last week as investors looked forward to China's rate decision and the Fed chair's testimony," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.