The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex fell by 80.18 points on Thursday to close at 31,075.73, as investors booked profits in companies which had performed well of late. The National Stock Exchange Nifty also declined by 40.10 points or 0.42% to end at 9,578.05, thus closing below the 9,600 mark for the first time since May 26.

The Sensex opened 66.98 points up at 31,222.89, but after reaching a peak of 31,229 points early, it declined throughout the day. After opening at 9,617.90 and rising to a peak of 9,621.40, the NSE declined continuously to end below 9,600 at 3.30 pm.

Weak economic data from the United States, an interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve and the investigation of President Donald Trump for possible obstruction of justice, all led to decline in Indian as well as other Asian markets, reported Mint.

The top five gainers on the Sensex on Thursday were Reliance Industries, pharmaceutical firm Cipla, IT giant Wipro, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories and Sun Pharma. Tata Consultancy Services, Larsen and Toubro, ONGC, Mahindra and Mahindra and Coal India lost out during the trade.

On the NSE Nifty, the biggest gainer was Aurobindo Pharma followed by Reliance Industries, Wipro, Cipla and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories. IOC, BPCL, Bharti Infratel, TCS and Bank of Baroda lagged during the trade session.

Meanwhile, other Asian bourses also experienced a poor day on Thursday, said CNNMoney. While the Hong Kong Hang Seng fell by 310.56 points to close at 25,565.34, Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined by 51.70 points to end at 19,831.82. The Taiwan TSEC 50 index gained by a meagre 15.89 points or 0.15%, while the Shanghai SE Composite Index gained just 1.81 points to close at 3,132.49.

The rupee was trading 13 paise up at 64.53 to a dollar at 3.55 pm on Thursday.