The stock markets ended the day on a flat note on Wednesday owing to profit booking and dampened investor sentiment following weak forecast by telecom heavy weight Bharti Airtel. The company scrip closed at Rs 274.90, down 6.43 per cent from its previous close on the NSE and at Rs 274.40, down 6.60 per cent on the BSE.
The cut in India’s GDP forecast by the foreign research firms CLSA and Citi also adversely affected market sentiment, added analysts.
The Sensex closed the day at 17,601, down 1.22 points or 0.01 per cent while the Nifty closed at 5,338, up 2 points or 0.02 per cent. While auto, PSU and metal sectoral indices remained in investor limelight, realty and infrastructure stocks remained under pressure on both the BSE and the NSE.
Volatility was up with the India VIX closing at 16.37, up 0.99 per cent.
Mahindra and Mahindra, BPCL, Hindalco, Grasim and Ranbaxy were the top Nifty gainers while Bharti Airtel, GAIL, DLF, PNB and ICICI Bank were the losers on the Nifty.