Stock markets end flat after volatile session as investors await outcome of US-Russia talks

Mumbai: Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty ended flat in a highly volatile trade on Thursday as investors turned cautious ahead of the US-Russia talks on August 15.

Extending gains to the second day, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 57.75 points or 0.07 per cent to settle at 80,597.66. During the day, it rallied 211.27 points or 0.26 per cent to 80,751.18.

The 50-share NSE Nifty rose by 11.95 points or 0.05 per cent to 24,631.30.

Among Sensex firms, Eternal, Infosys, Asian Paints, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finserv and Titan were the major gainers.

However, Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, Adani Ports and Bharat Electronics were among the laggards.

The Trump-Putin meeting could have significant implications for energy markets, potentially leading to an easing of sanctions against Moscow.

"After a volatile weekly expiry-day session, Indian equities ended flat as investors traded cautiously ahead of the US-Russia summit. IT and pharma stocks advanced on the back of a softer US inflation data and dovish outlook. Banking and consumer durables also gained on hopes of a consumption-led recovery," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Ltd, said.

The BSE smallcap gauge declined 0.59 per cent and midcap index dipped 0.18 per cent.

Among BSE sectoral indices, consumer durables climbed 0.82 per cent, while BSE Focused IT (0.45 per cent), teck (0.39 per cent), IT (0.38 per cent), financial services (0.26 per cent), bankex (0.23 per cent) and consumer discretionary (0.13 per cent) also advanced.

Metal dropped the most by 1.40 per cent, followed by oil & gas (1.18 per cent), commodities (0.73 per cent), FMCG (0.57 per cent), power (0.55 per cent) and industrials (0.53 per cent).

On a weekly basis, Sensex climbed 739.87 points or 0.92 per cent and Nifty edged higher by 268 points or 1.10 per cent, snapping their six-week losing streak.

Meanwhile, S&P upgraded India's sovereign credit rating to 'BBB' with a stable outlook after a gap of nearly 19 years, citing robust economic growth, political commitment for fiscal consolidation and 'conducive' monetary policy to check inflation.

"India remains among the best performing economies in the world...The quality of government spending has improved in the past five to six years," S&P Global Ratings said.

The impact of US tariffs on the Indian economy will be "manageable", S&P said, adding that a 50 per cent tariff on US exports (if imposed) will not pose a "material drag" on growth.

"India is relatively less reliant on trade and about 60% of its economic growth stems from domestic consumption," it said.

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

Equity markets in Europe were trading mostly higher.

The US markets ended higher on Wednesday.

Wholesale price inflation declined to a 2-year low of (-) 0.58 per cent in July, as deflation in food and fuel kept WPI in the negative zone for the second consecutive month, government data released on Thursday showed.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.53 per cent to USD 65.92 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,644.43 crore on Wednesday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought stocks worth Rs 5,623.79 crore, according to exchange data.

Equity markets would remain closed on Friday for Independence Day.