Benchmark indices closed flat amid volatility on Friday, dragged by financials and auto.
The market opened on a flat note amid mixed global cues, recording higher gains in the first half, witnessing buying across counters. However, indices erased all early gains to close lower.
The BSE Sensex closed at 57,200.23, down 76.71 points or 0.13 per cent. It recorded an intraday high of 58,084.33 and a low of 57,119.28. The Nifty 50 closed at 17,101.95, down 8.20 points or 0.05 per cent. It recorded an intraday high of 17,373.50 and a low of 17,077.10.
Breadth turns positive
The market breadth turned positive with 1,988 stocks advancing on the BSE as against 1,365 that declined while 105 remained unchanged. Furthermore, 411 stocks hit the upper circuit as compared to the 293 stocks that were locked in the lower circuit. Besides, 167 stocks touched a 52-week high level and 13 touched a 52-week low.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said, ‘‘After the decent opening post yesterday’s weak closing, domestic bourses again staged a quick sell-off, tracking weak European trend.”
“Policy tightening by the US Fed and rising geopolitical tensions in Ukraine coloured global sentiments. The broad market ended mixed considering IT, realty and Mid & Smallcaps reboundes after continuous heavy-selling this week,” said Nair.
Market is expected to remain volatile ahead of th Union Budget presentation.
NTPC, UPL, Sun Pharma, Tata Consumer and IndusInd Bank were the top gainers on the Nifty 50 while Maruti, Tech Mahindra, Powergrid, Hero MotoCorp and ICICI Bank were the top laggards.
IT, pharma in focus
On the sectoral front, while IT, pharma and realty recorded higher gains, auto and financials dragged. .
Nifty IT was up 1.13 per cent at closing. Nifty Pharma and Nifty Healthcare Index were up 1.05 per cent and 1.50 per cent, respectively. Nifty Realty was up 0.77 per cent.
Meanwhile, Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services were down 0.77 per cent and 0.50 per cent, respectively. Nifty Private Bank was down 0.59 per cent while Nifty PSU Bank was down 0.36 per cent. Nifty Auto was down 0.59 per cent.
Broader indices
Broader indices closed in the green, outperforming the benchmarks.
Nifty Midcap 50 was up 1.38 per cent while Nifty Smallcap 50 was up 1.04 per cent. The S&P BSE Midcap was up 1.02 per cent while the S&P BSE Smallcap was up 1.07 per cent.
The volatility index softened 1.75 per cent to 20.70.