The S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 indexes ended on a flat note in trade on Friday as gains in banking, financial services and metal and FMCG shares were offset with losses in information technology and pharma shares. For most part of the day, Sensex and Nifty traded on a muted note as investors turned cautious on pace of economic recovery as COVID-19 infection cases in the country crossed 20 lakh, analysts said. The Sensex traded in a band of 300 points and Nifty 50 index touched an intraday high of 11,231.90 and low of 11,142.05.
The Sensex ended 15 points higher at 38,040 and Nifty advanced 14 points to close at 11,214.
India’s coronavirus cases passed 20 lakh after a record surge of 62,538 new patients in the last 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry said this morning. It took three weeks for the country’s Covid count to double; the tally had crossed 10 lakh cases on July 17.
Seven of 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended higher led by Nifty PSU Bank index’s 1 per cent gain. Nifty Private Bank, Metal, FMCG, Auto and Bank indexes also rose between 0.5-0.8 per cent each.
On the other hand, Nifty IT, Pharma and Realty indexes fell between 0.3-1 per cent each.
Mid- and small-cap shares outperformed their larger peers as Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indexes rose over a per cent each.
Asian Paints was top Nifty gainer, the stock rose 4.65 per cent to close at Rs 1,807. Bajaj Finance, UPL, IndusInd Bank, Bharat Petroleum, Britannia Industries, Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki and GAIL India also rose between 1.3-3.7 per cent.
On the flipside, Titan, HCL Technologies, Infosys, Sun Pharma, Mahindra & Mahindra, Indian Oil, Larsen & Toubro, Wipro, UltraTech Cement and TCS were among the losers.
The overall market breadth was positive as 1,661 shares closed higher while 1,042 closed lower on the BSE.
