Nirmala Sitharaman's appointment as finance minister surprises Dalal Street

The indices recovered lost ground to end with marginal losses

The benchmark indices came off sharply from the day’s high after the government announced the portfolios of cabinet ministers on Friday. Many at Dalal Street were surprised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to appoint Nirmala Sitharaman as the next finance minister. She was the defence minister in first Modi government.

Ahead of the announcement, the Sensex and Nifty were trading at record levels above 40,000 and 12,000, respectively, amid excitement surrounding the finance berth. Around noon, the Sensex fell as much as 748 points from the day’s high on the back of sharp selling in index heavyweights. 

Some said the sharp