It's time to trade carefully as equity markets hit lifetime highs

With the markets trading at above fair valuations, investors should eschew risky bets

The leading stock indices have been hovering around their lifetime highs. The BSE Sensex crossed the 53,000 mark in intraday trade this week for the first time in its history. The Nifty 50, too, is trading close to the 16,000 level after hitting a lifetime high recently.

Meanwhile, retail investors have entered the stock markets in large numbers over the past year. A State Bank of India Economic Research Department study has pointed out that the number of individual investors in the market increased by 14.2 million in FY21, with CDSL gaining 12.25 million new demat accounts and NSDL 1.97