Indices close lower, as investors remain cautious ahead of budget

Indian indices edged lower today, tracking Asian peers, as investors booked profits while caution prevailed ahead of the federal budget due later this week.
 
The broader NSE Nifty closed 0.73% at 11,049.65, while the benchmark BSE index ended 0.69% lower at 36,033.73.
 
On the NSE, almost all indices closed in the red with Nifty Financial Services, Nifty Private Banks, Nifty IT and Nifty Realty falling over 1%. 
 
In the Nifty Bank index, barring SBI and Canara Bank, all other banks ended in the negative territory. 
 
Most of the IT companies stocks including TCS and Infosys also edged lower.
 
BPCL, Airtel, GAIL, HPCL and Hero MotoCorp were the top gainers on Nifty50.
 
MSCI index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.5%. Asian indices retreated from record highs following  a selloff in Apple shares knocked Wall Street lower .
 
Boosted by a better-than-expected corporate earnings, government measures such as a cut in the goods and services tax for certain goods and a positive economic growth forecast, market touched a record high in recent weeks.
 
The market is lower because investors are  trading cautiously ahead of federal budget, to be presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on February 1, Sanjeev Das, faculty at BSE Institute, said.