Share Market Today: Sensex, Nifty Trade Flat Amid Volatility. HUL Slips 6%

Share Market Today: On the 30-share Sensex platform, HUL is the biggest loser, declining 6 per cent. Nestle, Airtel, Maruti, ITC, TCS are among the other losers

Share Market Today: The two key equity benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, on Thursday are trading flat amid volatility as unabated foreign fund outflows and disappointing earnings from HUL dented investors' sentiment. At 10.25 am, the BSE Sensex marginally dropped 9 points to 80,090. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 was trading at 24427, down 8 points.

Stock update

On the 30-share Sensex platform, HUL is the biggest loser, declining 6 per cent. Nestle, Airtel, Maruti, ITC, TCS are among the other losers. On the flip side, UltraCemco, NTPC, HDFC Bank, PowerGrid, SBI, Titan emerged gainers.

In the broader markets, the Nifty Midcap 100 rose by 0.19 per cent while the Nifty Smallcap 100 declined by 0.51 per cent.

In the previous session on Wednesday, the BSE benchmark dipped 139 points to settle at 80,081, while the NSE Nifty dropped 37 points to 24,435.

"The optimism in our markets has stalled after a rough trading session, much like a kite snagged on a branch. The Nifty has ended in the red for three consecutive days. Several factors are keeping bullish sentiments in check: disappointing Q2 earnings from corporate India, continued selling by FIIs, concerns over the pace of US interest rate cuts, and rising US bond yields," said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 5,684.63 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data. Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought equities worth Rs 6,039.90 crore.

Global update

In Asian markets, Tokyo traded higher while Seoul, Shanghai, and Hong Kong quoted lower. The US markets ended in the negative territory on Wednesday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 1.25 per cent to $75.90 a barrel.

Rupee trades flat

The rupee stayed flat at 84.07 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday amid elevated crude oil prices and continuous withdrawal of foreign funds from capital market. However, the local unit found some cushion as the dollar retreated from its higher level while the domestic equity markets indicated a recovery, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 84.06 against the greenback and slipped 1 paisa to trade at previous day's closing level in initial deals. On Wednesday, the rupee had settled with a marginal gain of 1 paisa at 84.07 against the US dollar.