Sensex, Nifty close flat amid profit taking in financials, IT shares

Mumbai, Aug 22 (PTI) Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty closed flat after a volatile trade on Tuesday as investors booked profits amid concerns over potential rate hikes in the US and persistent foreign fund outflows.

The BSE barometer eked out gains of 3.94 points or 0.01 per cent to settle at 65,220.03. During the day, it climbed 146.82 points or 0.22 per cent to a high of 65,362.91.

The NSE Nifty inched up 2.85 points or 0.01 per cent to settle at 19,396.45.

“Despite the support of positive international markets, Indian equities struggled to maintain their upward momentum due to lingering apprehensions over ongoing global uncertainties,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said.

Sectors closely tied to the Western economy, such as IT and pharma, faced challenges, while domestic-oriented sectors, alongside mid and small-caps, exhibited resilience and gained traction.

“The influence of higher bond yields and concerns about potential rate hikes in the US is prompting FIIs to withdraw funds from the domestic market, contributing to the market’s volatility,” Nair said.

From the Sensex pack, ITC, Mahindra & Mahindra, Wipro, Larsen & Toubro, Axis Bank, Tata Steel, Maruti and Bharti Airtel were the major gainers.

Jio Financial Services, Bajaj Finserv, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, HDFC Bank, Tech Mahindra and UltraTech Cement were among the laggards.

Shares of Jio Financial Services, the demerged financial services unit of Reliance Industries, listed on the bourses on Monday.

With the company’s listing, BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty added Jio Financial Services to their pack. This has been done to ensure price stability and limit volatility in shares of Reliance Industries as part of the revised methodology of the exchanges to treat demergers.

The newly listed entity would be removed from the indices on the third day of its listing.

“Markets ended flat with a positive bias in an extremely lacklustre trading session, as traders preferred to stay on the sidelines after witnessing choppy trades over the past week or so.

“Despite the range-bound session, buying activity was seen in power and capital goods stocks, while IT stocks failed to deliver, despite a strong upsurge in the tech-heavy Nasdaq in overnight trades,” said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge climbed 0.94 per cent and smallcap index jumped 0.89 per cent.

Among the indices, telecommunication climbed 2.10 per cent, utilities rallied 1.58 per cent, power jumped 1.44 per cent, capital goods (1.25 per cent), industrials (1.16 per cent) and FMCG (0.70 per cent).

IT and bankex were the laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled in the green.

European markets were trading with gains. The US markets ended mostly in the positive territory on Monday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.18 per cent to USD 84.31 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,901.10 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.