Sensex, Nifty Flat; HDFC Bank, Infosys Fall, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank Gain

Losses in HDFC Bank, Infosys, HDFC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tata Consultancy Services and Power Grid were offset with gains in Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank and Sun Pharma.

Updated on: 16 January 2024 6:14 pm

The Indian equity benchmarks were little changed on Wednesday as losses in HDFC Bank, Infosys, HDFC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tata Consultancy Services and Power Grid were offset with gains in Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank and Sun Pharma. The Sensex moved in a band of 250 points and Nifty 50 index touched an intraday high of 17,255.75 and low of 17,181. Asian stocks slipped on Wednesday, following a mixed Wall Street session as the region's investors positioned their portfolios for the new year and continued to grapple with increasing global numbers of Omicron coronavirus cases.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 0.25 per cent, after six sessions of gains, following volatile U.S. trade.

There were losses in Hong Kong, down 0.6 per cent hurt by declines in mainland tech stocks while Chinese blue chips shed 0.25 per cent.

Japan's Nikkei slid 0.58 per cent Wednesday after hitting a one-month high on Tuesday, news agency Reuters reported.

Back home, thirteen of 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading higher led by the Nifty Pharma index's nearly 1 per cent gain. Nifty Financial Services, PSU Bank, Private Bank, Healthcare, Realty and Oil & Gas indices also rose between 0.3-0.6 per cent.

On the other hand, metal and information technology shares were witnessing selling pressure.

Mid- and small-cap shares were witnessing buying interest as Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 0.35 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index advanced 0.87 per cent.

IndusInd Bank was top Nifty gainer, the stock rose 2.15 per cent to Rs 871. Dr Reddy's Labs, ICICI Bank, Cipla, Sun Pharma, Divi's Labs, Reliance Industries, Axis Bank, SBI Life, Bajaj Finserv, Bharat Petroleum and Larsen & Toubro also rose between 0.2-1 per cent.

On the flipside, Power Grid, Tata Steel, Coal India, NTPC, Hindalco, JSW Steel, Shree Cements, ITC, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Auto and Infosys were among the losers.

The overall market breadth was positive as 2,181 shares were advancing while 648 were declining on the BSE.