Sensex, Nifty pare early gains to end on flat note

Mumbai: Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty closed on a flat note on Wednesday amid weak global cues.

Shedding most of the gains made during the day, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 0.02 per cent or 11.43 points higher at 65,087.25 points. Similar trends were witnessed on the NSE too where the broader 50-share Nifty inched up 0.02 per cent or 4.80 points to settle at 19,347.45 points.

Most of the European stocks were trading in the negative territory while Asian shares ended the day on a mixed note. Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said positive sentiment initially propelled domestic equities, buoyed by softer US labour market data that caused a retreat in US bond yields, alleviating concerns about rate hikes.

"This positive outlook was reinforced by Chinese banks' move to reduce existing mortgage rates, favourably impacting Indian metal stocks. However, gains were tempered as the day progressed, primarily due to weakness in global markets attributed to lacklustre economic data from Europe. "Banking stocks bore the brunt of this downturn, while mid- and small-cap segments displayed resilience amid the market dynamics," he said.

In the Sensex pack, majority of the shares closed in the positive territory. Among the main gainers were Jio Financial Services which jumped 4.99 per cent, Tata Steel (2.09 per cent), Maruti Suzuki (1.87 per cent), M&M (1.31 per cent) and Infosys (1.19 per cent). Sensex had reached an intra-day low of 65,052.74 points.

During intra-day trade, Nifty had touched a high of 19,452.80 points and a low of 19,334.75 points. Jio Financial Services (4.99 per cent), Tata Steel (2.09 per cent), Maruti Suzuki (1.75 per cent), Eicher Motors (1.24 per cent) and M&M (1.19 per cent) were among the gainers in the broader index.

Brent crude futures rose 0.55 per cent to $85.96 per barrel. On Tuesday,Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) were the net buyers, purchasing shares worth Rs 61.51 crore, as per BSE data.