Stock Market Trades Flat: Sensex Down 65 Points, Nifty Trades Below 18,850. IT Drags

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, Infosys, Bajaj Finance, PowerGrid, NTPC, Wipro, HCL emerged early losers

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Thursday were trading flat in early morning session amid volatility. At 10 am, the BSE Sensex was down 65 points to 63,457. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 was trading at 18,847, down 10 points.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Infosys, Bajaj Finance, PowerGrid, NTPC, Wipro, HCL emerged early losers. In the flipside, Tata Steel, M&M, ICICI Bank, HDFC twins, ITC were among the gainers. Among specific shares, Delhivery jumped 3.6 per cent amid block deal where 18 million shares changed hands.

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap index and the BSE Smallcap index advanced up to 0.34 per cent.

Sectorwise, the Nifty IT index was down about 0.7 per cent, while the Nifty Metal index was up by the same percentage.

In the previous session on Wednesday, the BSE Sensex rose 195 points to 63,523, while the Nifty50, ended at 18,857, up 40 points.

"Markets are likely to ease in early trade on Thursday amid weak US and Asian indices, while a hawkish Federal Reserve backdrop could fuel some volatility. There are clear signals that the Fed may go for further rate hikes as Powell in his testimony before the US congress yesterday stressed that inflation remains high and the process to get back to 2 per cent has a long way to go," said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

In Asian markets, Seoul quoted in the green, while Tokyo traded lower. The US markets ended in the negative territory on Wednesday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.31 per cent to $76.88 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 4,013.10 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, the rupee appreciated by 8 paise to 81.93 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday amid weak American currency and robust inflow of foreign funds into domestic equity markets. Easing of crude prices boosted the local unit, forex traders said, while the dollar was under pressure amid concerns of further rate hike by US Federal Reserve as indicated by Fed Chair Jerome Powell in his Tuesday's speech.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened stronger at 81.94 and touched the peak of 81.90. The currency later traded at 81.93 against the greenback, registering a gain of 8 paise from its previous close. On Wednesday, the rupee settled at 82.01 against the dollar.