Sensex, Nifty end flat after volatile trade; auto, oil stocks gain, IT drags

Benchmark indices snapped a two-day rally to close nearly unchanged on Friday as strength in auto and energy shares offset weakness in IT and FMCG. Analysts say markets may be entering a consolidation phase despite weekly gains.

Mumbai: Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty closed unchanged after a volatile session on Friday as gains in oil & gas and auto shares were offset by losses in IT and FMCG shares.

After a volatile trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex closed lower by 7.25 points or 0.01 per cent at 80,710.76 with 14 of its components ending with gains and 16 with losses.

In a see-saw trade, the barometer opened higher but slipped into the red in late morning deals. It hit a low of 80,321.19 in the afternoon session before paring losses in the pre-close session. The index gyrated 715.37 points between the day’s high and low.

The 50-share NSE Nifty eked out gains of 6.70 points or 0.03 per cent to close at 24,741.

Among Sensex firms, Mahindra & Mahindra climbed 2.34 per cent, followed by Maruti which climbed 1.70 per cent. Power Grid, Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel and Eternal also were also among the gainers.

However, ITC, HCL Tech, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra and Infosys were among the laggards.

"Indian equities ended flat today, but sentiment stayed mildly positive as key indices rebounded from intra-day lows on buying at support levels. The auto sector continued to extend gains on expectations of a demand revival.

"Global cues also lent support, with US and Asian markets trading higher ahead of the US jobs report, a key trigger for Fed rate cut expectations," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

BSE smallcap gauge went up by 0.09 per cent, while midcap index dipped 0.10 per cent.

BSE Focused IT dropped the most by 1.44 per cent, followed by IT (1.25 per cent), FMCG (1.22 per cent), realty (1.07 per cent), teck (0.70 per cent) and services (0.60 per cent).

Among BSE sectoral indices, auto jumped 1.30 per cent and telecommunication climbed 0.96 per cent. Metal (0.71 per cent), consumer discretionary (0.60 per cent) and energy (0.20 per cent) also advanced.

"Markets traded in a narrow range and ended nearly flat on Friday. After a positive start, the Nifty slipped in the first half, weighed down by weakness in IT majors; however, resilience in select heavyweights supported a recovery as the session progressed.

"Sector-wise, auto stocks outperformed, rising over 1 per cent on optimism following reduced GST rates for vehicles," Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said.

He further added that despite optimism around policy reforms and supportive domestic factors, markets appear to be entering a consolidation phase, given lingering tariff concerns and persistent foreign institutional outflows.

On the weekly front, the BSE benchmark jumped 901.11 points or 1.12 per cent, and the Nifty climbed 314.15 points or 1.28 per cent.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng settled in positive territory.

Markets in Europe were trading on firm note. US markets ended higher on Thursday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 106.34 crore on Thursday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DII) bought stocks worth Rs 2,233.09 crore, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.07 per cent to USD 66.93 a barrel.

On Thursday, the Sensex settled 150.30 points or 0.19 per cent higher at 80,718.01, and the Nifty ended marginally higher by 19.25 points or 0.08 per cent at 24,734.30.