BENGALURU: Indian shares closed marginally lower on Thursday after the country’s finance minister presented the interim budget without any major announcements as expected, as concerns over US rate cuts and high valuations weighed on markets.

The NSE Nifty 50 index ended down 0.13% to 21,697.45, while the S&P BSE Sensex settled 0.15% lower at 71,645.30.

Both indexes were up about 0.3% ahead of the budget. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman promised economic reforms to drive growth in her budget speech, which was largely expected to avoid significant spending on new welfare programmes ahead of the election.

The Indian government’s commitment to keep a tight lid on subsidies augur well for domestic equities, said Union Asset Management Company CEO Pradeepkumar.