Profit taking, global cues subdue equity indices to end flat (Roundup)

Profit booking and weak global markets subdued the key Indian equity indices to close Monday's volatile trade session on a flat-to-positive note.

According to market observers, the key indices ceded most of their gains during the last hour of Monday's trade session, as metal, oil and gas and realty counters came under heavy selling pressure.

In the afternoon trade session, both the NSE Nifty50 and the S&P BSE Sensex made significant gains, with the barometer Sensex rising over 200 points, on the back of buying support in the consumer durables, banking and capital goods stocks.

Index-wise, the wider NSE Nifty50 ended the day's trade at 10,786.95 points, up 19.30 points or 0.18 per cent from its previous close of 10,767.65 points.

Similarly, the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex, which had opened at 35,472.59 points settled a tad higher. It closed at 35,483.47 points -- up 39.80 points or 0.11 per cent -- from the previous closing level of 35,443.67 points.

Besides, the intra-day trade saw high volatility as the Sensex swung from a high of 35,704.84 points to a low of 35,444.49 points.

The BSE market breadth was slightly tilted towards the bulls with 1,529 advances against 1,147 declines.

"Markets ended with modest gains after a sharp sell-off in the late afternoon session wiped out most of the morning gains," said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities.

"Traders and investors seemed to be cautious as they are awaiting a series of domestic and global events this week."

According to Tradebulls' Director and Chief Operating Officer Dhruv Desai: "Sensex and Nifty closed flat as investors await the landmark meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un scheduled tomorrow."

On the currency front, the Indian rupee appreciated by nine paise against the US dollar to 67.42, from its previous close at 67.51 per greenback.

Investment-wise, provisional data with exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors sold scrip worth Rs 1,156.77 crore, while the domestic institutional investors bought stocks worth Rs 1,062.82 crore.

Sector-wise, the S&P BSE consumer durable index gained 210.82 points, the healthcare index was higher by 68.74 points and the FMCG index ended 41.50 points higher.

On the other hand, S&P BSE metal index was down by 48.23 points, followed by the oil and gas index which fell 31.88 points and the realty index was down 15.64 points.

The major gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel, up 3.19 per cent at Rs 388.75; Sun Pharma, up 1.29 per cent at Rs 535; Dr Reddy's Lab, up 0.90 per cent at Rs 2,081.45; Maruti Suzuki, up 0.84 per cent at Rs 9,021.05; and IndusInd Bank, up 0.76 per cent at Rs 1,904.50 per share.

The top losers were Tata Steel, down 1.79 per cent at Rs 588.75; Power Grid, down 1.21 per cent at Rs 196.10; Coal India, down 0.72 per cent at Rs 287.80, Hero MotoCorp, down 0.60 per cent at Rs 3,612.55 and Yes Bank, down 0.56 per cent at Rs 335.70 per share.

--IANS

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