Sensex snaps 6-day winning streak ahead of RBI policy outcome, dips 52 pts

CLOSING BELL: PSU banks were the worst hit today with the Nifty PSB index down 1.75 per cent

MARKET LIVE: Sensex, Nifty recoup day's losses; IT, FMCG, pharma stks gain

CLOSING BELL

Stock market highlights: Equity markets ended lower as investors booked profit after six consecutive sessions of rally, and ahead of the RBI monetary policy outcome on Friday. The S&P BSE Sensex gyrated 1,136 points during the day, before settling at 58,299, down 52 points or 0.09 per cent.

The NSE Nifty50, on the other hand, closed at 17,382, down 6 points or 0.04 per cent, after hitting a high of 17,491 and a low of 17,161 during the day.

Defensive sectors were the outperformers today with the Nifty Pharma (up 2.37 per cent), Nifty IT (1.2 per cent), and Nifty FMCG (0.5 per cent) indices clocking the most gains. PSU banks were the worst hit today with the Nifty PSB index down 1.75 per cent.

Among individual stocks, Cipla, Nestle India, Sun Pharma, Infosys, Apollo Hospitals, Hindalco, Divis Labs, Dr Reddy's Labs, and JSW Steel climbed between 1 per cent and 3.2 per cent. On the downside, NTPC, Tata Consumer Products, Coal India, RIL, SBI, Shree Cement, Power Grid, Kotak Bank, and Axis Ball fell in the range of 1 per cent to 3 per cent.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices added 0.3 per cent and 0.2 per cent, respectively.

4:06 PM

Expert view: Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking

Markets witnessed erratic swings throughout the weekly expiry day and finally settled on a flat note. The beginning was upbeat; thanks to firm global cues however the updates on lingering geopolitical tension between China-Taiwan led to nervousness and triggered a sharp dip. The situation improved gradually as the day progressed, with noticeable traction in the IT, pharma, metal and FMCG pack. Finally, the Nifty index closed almost unchanged at 17,382 levels. Meanwhile, broader indices traded mixed wherein midcap gained over half a percent while smallcap slipped in the red.

Markets will be closely eyeing the outcome of MPC’s monetary policy meet on Friday. Before that, the performance of the global indices amid the fresh developments on China-Taiwan tension would dictate the trend in early trades. On the index front, the Nifty has been seeing consolidation on the expected lines however rise in the volatility is making life tough for the traders. We recommend preferring hedged positions and focusing on the defensive pack as well.

4:01 PM

Expert view: Vinod Nair, Head Of Research at Geojit Financial Services

"Taking positive momentum from the robust US economic data, the domestic market opened with gains, while worries over the US-China conflict kept investors on the defensive, leading to heavy volatility. Weak PMI and trade deficit data witnessed downside pressure on the Indian rupee & equity market. However, sustained foreign interest in Indian equities is led to buying on dips, resulting in a late recovery"

4:01 PM

Zomato in focus, ends 2.4 per cent higher on keen instituitional investors interest

Zomato gained 2.4 per cent on Thursday, and has rebounded 21 per cent from Wednesday's low of Rs 48.40 as over a dozen institutional investors bought the company's equity shares via block deals. READ MORE

4:00 PM

Chart Check:: Rupak De, Sr. Technical Analyst at LKP Securities

"Nifty remained highly volatile before closing flat for the day. On the higher end, it found resistance around 17,500 and slipped lower. The momentum indicator RSI is in bullish crossover. The trend is likely to remain sideways to negative as long as it remains below 17,500. On the lower end, support exists around 17,100-17,000."

3:57 PM

Subex hits second straight 20% upper circuit

Subex was locked at the 20 per cent upper circuit for the second straight day on Thursday after Jio Platforms inked pact with Subex HyperSense AI to augment their 5G product line. READ MORE

3:54 PM

Macrotech Developers shed over 6% on heavy volume

Shares of Macrotech Developers (Lodha) slipped on Thursday after nearly 2 per cent of total equity of the real estate developer changed hands on the BSE and National Stock Exchange (NSE) via block deals. READ MORE

3:52 PM

Deepak Fertlisers gained another 5%, stock up nearly 29% in last seven days post 3.3-fold jump in Q1 net

3:49 PM

NDTV hit a fresh 13-year high ahead of June quarter results

3:46 PM

Broader NSE indices end with marginal gains

3:45 PM

Top 5 Nifty 50 gainers and losers on Thursday

3:43 PM

NSE Nifty 50 regained over 200 points from the day's low

3:41 PM

Technical view: Kunal Shah, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities

"The Bank Nifty index witnessed high volatility a day before the RBI Policy with movements on both sides. The bulls and the bears are trying to fight from both ends with support at 37,200 and resistance at 38,200 levels. The index needs to break on either side on a closing basis for a trending move on either side. The index is already trading in an overbought zone and a correction cannot be ruled out from the current level."

3:40 PM