CLOSING BELL Benchmark indices whipsawed in trade on Thursday, the day of weekly F&O expiry, as geopolitical tensions between Ukraine and Russia remained unabated. Besides, Brent crude prices above $120 per barrel also added to investor woes.
The frontline S&P BSE Sensex gyrated 690 points intra-day before settling at 57,596, down 89 points or 0.15 per cent. The Nifty50, on the other hand, ended at 17,223, down 23 points or 0.13 per cent. The 50-share index had touched an intra-day high and low of 17,292 and 17,091, respectively.
Dr Reddy's Labs (up nearly 5 per cent) was the top Nifty gainer today, followed by Coal India, Hindalco, Cipla, NTPC, JSW Steel, Tech M, and RIL. On the downside, Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank, Titan, ICICI Bank, HDFC, Maruti Suzuki, Divis Labs, BPCL, Tata Consumer Products, BPCL, and M&M slipped between 1 per cent and 3 per cent, keeping a lid on the upside.
The broader markets, on the contrary, held their ground and outperformed the headline indices. The BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices added up to 0.3 per cent amid gains in Zee Entertainment, Mindtree, Jindal Steel, Mphasis, Glenmark Pharma, Suven Pharma, Ganesh Housing, Future Retail, and Dish TV.
Among the lot, shares of
Zee Entertainment Enterprises (Zee) surged 20 per cent to Rs 307 on the BSE in Thursday's trade after the company's largest shareholder, Invesco, decided to withdraw its EGM requisition notice, which sought removal of Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD & CEO) Punit Goenka from the board of ZEE.
READ MORE Meanwhile, those of
Suven Pharmaceuticals hit a record high of Rs 617, rallying 5 per cent on the BSE in Thursday's intra-day trade. The shares of the company have surged 18 per cent in the last three days on expectations of strong earnings.
READ MORE That apart, those of Paytm jumped 13.5 per cent to Rs 595 apiece on the BSE in the intra-day trade on the back of heavy volumes.
Among sectors, the Nifty Bank and Private Bank indices declined nearly 2 per cent each, followed by the the Nifty Consumer Durable index, down 1.6 per cent. On the upside, the Nifty Media and Metal indices rose 6 per cent and 1.5 per cent, respectively.
Global markets
European stocks were slightly higher on Thursday with regional investors keeping a close eye on developments in Ukraine, and key meetings of NATO, EU and G-7 leaders in Brussels. The pan-European Stoxx 600 and Germany's DAX added 0.3 per cent each in early trade, while France's CAC40 was up 0.5 per cent.
On Wall Street, Nasdaq Comsposite Futures gained 0.7 per cent, while Dow Jones and S&P500 Futures rallied 0.4 per cent and 0.6 per cent, respectively.
Earlier in Asia, indices ended mixed with Japan's Nikkei up 0.25 per cent and South Korea's Kospi down 0.2 per cent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng also dipped about 1 per cent today.
 "Sensex gyrates 690 pts, ends 89 pts down; metal, pharma rally, banks slide")
