Stock Market: Against relentless foreign money withdrawals and monthly options expiry, benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty closed flat on Thursday in a turbulent session. The 30-share BSE Sensex eked out gains of 10.31 points, or 0.01 percent, to settle at 74,612.43. During the day, it hit a high of 74,834.09 and a low of 74,520.78, gyrating 313.31 points.
Declining on its seventh day, the NSE Nifty dropped 2.50 points, or 0.01 percent, to 22,545.05. Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Sun Pharma, Zomato, Tata Steel, and Nestle were the biggest winners from the Sensex pack. UltraTech Cement, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tech Mahindra, and State Bank of India were among the major laggards.
On Tuesday, exchange data showed that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded equities valued at Rs 3,529.10 crore. Mahashivratri closed the stock markets on Wednesday.
“Markets traded lacklusterly on the monthly expiration day, closing practically flat for the second straight session. The Nifty swiftly flattened after an initial increase, trading within a limited range before settling at 22,545.05. Ajit Mishra, SVP of Research, Religare Broking Ltd., said the past two sessions show uncertainty probably related to oversold situations.
Tokyo and Shanghai landed in the positive zone among Asian markets; Seoul and Hong Kong ended down. Mostly, European markets were trading at lower levels. The US markets closed on Wednesday with mixed results.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude increased 0.69 percent to USD 73.03 a barrel. The Sensex increased 147.71 points, or 0.20 percent, to close at 74,602.12 on Tuesday. To end at 22,547.55, the Nifty dropped 5.80 points or 0.03 percent.
