Sensex settles flat, Nifty below 8,800; TCS top gainer

Globally, Asian markets, rising to their highest in more than 18 months, however, capped the losses

The benchmark indices on Thursday settled the day marginally higher as banking stocks fell after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept its policy rates on hold and said it would shift its stance from "accommodative" to "neutral," signalling an end to any further rate cuts. 

Globally, Asian markets, climbing to their highest in more than 18 months, however, capped the losses.  

The S&P BSE Sensex settled the day at 28,329, up 40 points, while the broader Nifty50 quoted 8,778, up 9 points at close. 

Broader markets outperformed the frontline indices. The BSE Smallcap index hit an over nine-year high in intra-day trade, while BSE Midcap ended 0.2% higher.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On BSE, 1,517 shares fell and 1,350 shares rose. A total of 152 shares were unchanged.

"Putting RBI rate decision behind, markets consolidated, in the absence of fresh cues, and should now focus on Q3 numbers as well as IIP numbers due tomorrow. SIAM’s auto numbers have shown that passenger vehicle sales have recovered from the effect of demonetisation, adding to the positive expectations towards tomorrow’s IIP release,” Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.

Sectors and stocks

BSE Metal index (down 0.7%) lost the most among sectoral indices, led by losses in NALCO (down 5% at Rs 68), Hindalco (down 3% at Rs 183) and Tata Steel (down 2% at Rs 460). 

BSE Bankex shed 0.5% to close at 23,118. 

Union Bank of India tanked over 8% after the public sector bank's gross non-performing assets rose to 11.70% in the December quarter from 7.05% reported in the same quarter of last financial year.

Among gainers, TCS (up 2.7% at Rs 2,324) was the top gainer on the Sensex. PNB, Bank of Baroda and IndusInd were the top losers and slipped anywhere between 1% and 3%.

Sun TV Network rallied to its record high of Rs 773, up 9.5% in intra-day trade, extending gains for last four days. The stock settled the day at Rs 738, up 4.6%.

Indraprastha Gas rose to a record high after posting a 37% increase in its December-quarter net profit.

Manappuram Finance surged nearly 13% to a three-and-a-half-month high after posting a 100% increase in its December-quarter profit.

Overseas, Asian stocks rose as investors grew more confident about the China, world's second-largest economy. 

Global markets

European markets were trading marginally higher as investors maintained caution amid rising political uncertainty. The pan-European Stoxx 600 was 0.3% higher, Dax added 0.2%, while FTSE was little changed. 

Asian markets rose to their highest in 18-month. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.3% to their highest since July 2015 with Hong Kong, Taiwan and China among the region's best performing markets.