Stock market indices closed flat On Thursday after rising for two consecutive days on profit booking at higher levels. However, buying emerged at lower levels, leading to high volatility and volumes.
The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index, or the Sensex, slipped 2.99 points, or 0.02 per cent, to 14,250.25 after changing direction more than 20 times. The S&P CNX Nifty dropped 2.10 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 4,231.40.
Positive sentiment emerged as Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in Parliament that the fiscal deficit would be lessened once the economy started recovering. Cues from the US were positive as markets there gained for the third straight day.
The Wall Street rallied on strong manufacturing data and better-than-expected earnings of Intel. The Dow Jones gained 256.72 points (3.07 per cent), the most in three months, while the Nasdaq added 63.17 points (3.51 per cent).
Asian markets were flat. The Shanghai Composite was 0.15 per cent down to 3,183.74. The Nikkei-225 and the Hang Seng were up 0.81 per cent and 0.57 per cent, respectively.
Siddharth Bhamre, head, investment advisory and derivatives, Angel Broking, said, “There was profit booking near the 4,300 level. Even though foreign institutional investors stopped selling in the past few days, they did not buy in a big way either.”
Volumes were high On Thursday. The two exchanges recorded a combined volume of Rs 95,199 crore, the highest since the Budget day. Average volume in July was Rs 80,113 crore.
The market breadth was positive. Out of 3,969stocks traded, 2,157 advanced, 1,674 declined, while 138 remained unchanged.