Sensex, Nifty end flat amid volatility; PSU banks, metal stocks drag
After swinging between gains and losses, the 30-share BSE index settled at 55,949.10, up 4.89 points or 0.01%
Equity benchmark Sensex and Nifty settled on a flat note on Thursday amid a weak trend in global market. After swinging between gains and losses, the 30-share BSE index settled at 55,949.10, up 4.89 points or 0.01%. The broader NSE Nifty closed at 16,636.90, up 2.25 points or 0.01%.
“Amid weak global cues, the domestic market traded cautiously with a positive bias. Renewed tension between China and the US along with the fear of rising Delta variant cases capped the gains in the Asian market. Investors globally are awaiting the Fed Reserve’s Jackson Hole Economic Symposium on Friday to gain insights on asset tapering plans and economic outlook,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
Gainers & losers
Top gainers & losers on the Sensex.
Sectoral strand
Sectoral indices on the NSE closed mixed. Nifty Metal slipped 1.27%, Nifty Pharma declined 0.52%, while Nifty Auto lost 0.46% and the Nifty IT closed 0.13% lower. On the upside, Nifty FMCG index gained 0.58%, Nifty Realty and Nifty Bank indices added 0.27% and 0.09% each.
Broader market
In a volatile session, the broader market outperformed benchmark indices. The BSE MidCap index ended with gains of 0.30% or 67 points to 23,015. Even the BSE SmallCap index settled higher above the 26,000-mark at 26,042 higher by 81 points or 0.31%.
Bulls had an upper hand in today’s session as 1,734 shares advanced compared to 1,450 declined and 138 remained unchanged.
Economy
The global rating agency, Moody’s Investors Service on August 26 said the second wave of Covid will lead to new problem loans in the retail and SME segments, but a severe asset quality decline is unlikely.
The improved profitability, capital and loss buffers of banks will help them absorb anticipated loan losses and maintain credit strength, Moody’s said in a release.
Global markets
Shares in Europe were trading lower on Thursday after rise in COVID-19 cases and worries about monetary policy outlook dented the sentiment.
Most Asian stocks declined on Thursday after South Korea’s central bank hiked interest rates. South Korea’s central bank raised its policy rate on Thursday, becoming the first major Asian economy to do so in the pandemic amid concerns record-low monetary settings are overheating demand. The Bank of Korea’s monetary policy board raised the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 0.75%.
Meanwhile, Japan saw the prices companies charge each other for services rise 1.1% in July from a year earlier, marking the fifth straight month of increase, Bank of Japan data showed on Thursday. The increase in the services producer price index was smaller than a revised 1.3% gain marked in June, the data showed.