Stock Market: Sensex And Nifty Trade Flat Amid Volatility. IT Drags; Metal, Power Firm

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, TCS, Airtel, Nestle, TechM, Bajaj Finance, Sun Pharma emerged early losers

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Thursday were trading flat amid volatility as IT sector earnings dampened investor sentiment. At 9.45 am, the BSE Sensex dropped 28 points to 66,445. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 was trading at 19,810, down 1.7 per cent.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, TCS, Airtel, Nestle, TechM, Bajaj Finance, Sun Pharma emerged early losers. TCS was down over 1 per cent after the IT major missed its Q2FY24 guidance. On the flip side, JSW Steel, Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank, Maruti, Axis Bank, NTPC were among notable gainers.

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and the Smallcap indices advanced around 0.5 per cent each.

Sectorwise, IT stocks were down, while metal and power advancing.

In the previous session on Wednesday, the BSE Sensex closed 394 points higher at 66,473, while the NSE Nifty settled at 19,811, up 122 points.

Asian markets traded on a firm note, with Hang Seng up nearly 2 per cent and Nikkei up over a per cent as Brent Crude dipped to $85 levels, and US 10-year bond yields slipped to 4.57 per cent. South Korea's Kospi was up 0.93 per cent.

V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said, "There are positive developments that can strengthen the rally in the market. "Steadily declining trend in the dollar index and the US bond yields, declining crude and sharp dip in FII selling in the cash market are big positives for the market. If the US CPI inflation data expected tonight dips below 3.6 per cent that will be a shot in the arm for the bulls." Asian markets, including Japan, China and Hong Kong, were trading with gains following advances in the US markets overnight.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) continued to be net sellers as they offloaded shares worth Rs 421.77 crore on Wednesday, according to data available with BSE.

Meanwhile, the rupee stayed on the upward track for the third day in a row, appreciating by 4 paise to 83.14 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday amid easing crude oil prices and a weak American currency. Subdued sentiments in the domestic equity markets and concerns over foreign funds withdrawal capped a sharp gain in the Indian currency, forex analysts said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 83.17 and then traded between the range of 83.13 to 83.17 against the greenback. The Indian unit later traded at 83.14 against dollar, registering a gain of 4 paise from its previous close. On Wednesday, the rupee settled 7 paise higher at 83.18 against the US dollar. On Tuesday, the domestic unit had gained 3 paise against the American currency.