Market pares gains to end flat; Tech Mahindra, Apollo Hospitals top gainers

BSE Sensex gained 44.42 points or 0.07 per cent to close at 61319.51. During the day, it jumped 407.16 points or 0.66 per cent to 61,682.25.

The Nifty was up by 20 points or 0.11 per cent to settle at 18,035.80.

While, twenty five of the Nifty 50 constituents advanced while 24 declined. While, Nifty Bank was down by 0.24 per cent to settle at 41,631.35.

ONGC, Tech Mahindra, Apollo Hospitals, Divis Labs and Nestle India were the major gainers on the Nifty, while losers were BPCL, Bajaj Finance, HUL, HDFC Life and M&M.

From the Sensex firms, Tech Mahindra, Nestle, Tata Steel, NTPC, Tata Consultancy Services, Asian Paints, Wipro and Bajaj Finserv were gainers.

Tech Mahindra and ONGC advanced 5 per cent along with Apollo Hospitals which gained more than 3 per cent. BPCL, Bajaj Finance and M&M shed in today’s session.

IT, Metal and Realty sectors led the first-half rally and jumped more than a per cent. Bank, Auto, and Finance indices closed in the red with marginal losses on Thursday.

“The domestic market absorbed the buoyancy in the global market, led by IT stocks, while upstream oil companies gained as a result of the slash in windfall tax. After robust jobs data, strong retail sales numbers in the US showed proof of resilience in the US economy amidst concerns over elevated inflation numbers. However, the gains were capped by worries that a stronger economy would attract a tighter monetary policy,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

The rupee appreciated by 13 paise to close at 82.70 (provisional) against the US currency on Thursday, supported by broad dollar weakness and a positive trend in domestic equities.

“The Indian rupee makes a comeback after three days of a down streak following stronger regional currencies, better-than-expected trade balance numbers and lower crude oil prices. The local unit also got support from dollar inflows as foreign institutions turned buyers into domestic equities in the last couple of days,” said Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.

“In the near term, spot USDINR has resistance at 82.95 and support at 82.30. The bias remains positive for the pair as long as it trades above 82.30, the 50 days simple moving average,” he added.

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPI) were net buyers as they bought shares worth ₹432.15 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

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