Stock markets end flat in volatile trade
Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended almost flat after a volatile day of trading on Thursday, dragged down by HDFC Bank and other blue-chip stocks. Also, caution ahead of the US-Iran talks made investors stay on the sidelines.
Paring morning gains, the 30-share BSE Sensex dipped marginally by 27.46 points or 0.03 per cent to settle at 82,248.61. During the day, it hit a high of 82,579.16 and a low of 81,970.47, gyrating 608.69 points. The 50-share NSE Nifty eked out a marginal gain of 14.05 points or 0.06 per cent to end at 25,496.55.
From the Sensex pack, Trent, Eternal, Power Grid, HDFC Bank, Asian Paints, UltraTech Cement, NTPC and Axis Bank were among the biggest laggards. Bharat Electronics, Sun Pharma, Adani Ports, Maruti and Bharti Airtel were among the gainers.
“The domestic market surrendered its early gains amid mixed global cues and increased caution ahead of the US “Iran nuclear talks, as well as key data releases including US initial jobless claims and India’s GDP print, which triggered profit-booking,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth INR 2,991.64 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data. Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) also bought stocks worth INR 5,118.57 crore. In Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi jumped 3.67 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 also ended in positive territory, while Shanghai’s SSE Composite index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ended lower.Markets in Europe were trading mostly higher.The US market ended higher on Wednesday.“Indian equity markets ended largely unchanged, underscoring a clear tug-of-war between early optimism and cautious profit-booking. Positive global cues from technology and metals supported sentiment at the open, but gains gradually faded as investors chose to trim exposure at higher levels rather than chase momentum,” Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm, said.
Brent Crude, the global oil benchmark, declined 0.95 per cent to $70.18 per barrel.On Wednesday, the Sensex ended 50.15 points or 0.06 per cent higher at 82,276.07. The Nifty went up by 57.85 points or 0.23 per cent to settle at 25,482.50.
