Benchmark indices ended on a flat note in range-bound trade today, amid a weak trend in global markets and sustained foreign fund outflows.
Sensex closed 4 points higher at 55,949 and Nifty added 2 points to reach fresh closing peak of 16,636.
Reliance Industries was the top┬а Sensex gainer, rising over 1 per cent, followed by M&M, HCL Tech, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and HUL.
Bharti Airtel, Maruti, SBI, PowerGrid, NTPC and Tata Steel were among the top┬а Sensex losers, falling up to 4.18%.
Of┬а 30 Sensex stocks, 16 ended in the red.
Gaurav Ratnaparkhi, Head of Technical Research at Sharekhan said, “The price action in the last 2 sessions indicates that the index is facing resistance near 16,700 and is forming a distribution there. Structurally, the Nifty is likely to go for a minor degree dip over the next couple of sessions. Additionally, the short term momentum indicators are also pointing towards a potential dip. Thus the index looks set to test the levels of 16,500-16,400 on the downside.”
BSE mid cap and small cap indices rose 67 points and 81 points, respectively.
On a sectoral basis, metal shares led the losses with their BSE index sliding 269 points to 19,530.┬а Consumer durables and capital goods share led the gains with their BSE indices rising 143 points and 165 points, respectively.
Market cap of BSE-listed firms rose to Rs 241.93 lakh crore.
Market breadth was positive with 1,733 shares ending higher against 1,451 falling on BSE. 138 shares were unchanged.
Meanwhile, rupee┬а ended 2 paise higher to close at 74.22 against the US dollar on Thursday amid a muted trend in domestic equities.
Global markets
Britain’s FTSE 100 lost 0.3% to 7,127.10 and France’s CAC 40 declined 0.2% to 6,665.06. The DAX in Germany also fell 0.2% to 15,822.87 in early trading.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 added 0.1% to 27,742.29 while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gave up 1.1% to 25,415.69. The Shanghai Composite also ended the day 1.1% lower, at 3,501.66.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 retreated 0.5% to 7,491.20. The Kospi in South Korea lost 0.6% to 3,128.53 after the country’s central bank raised its policy rate by 25 basis points, in a move that could quell rising household debt.
