Stock Market: Sensex, Nifty End Flat Tracking High Volatility. Airtel Down 3 Per Cent

Stock update: The top drags on Wednesday were Bharti Airtel, HUL, Nestle, Cipla, Divi's Labs, Apollo Hospitals, IndusInd Bank, Reliance, Titan and Bajaj Finserv, which shed 1-3 per cent

In the broader markets, BSE Midcap closed 0.3 per cent down and the Smallcap index ending slightly in green.

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The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Wednesday ended day’s trade with marginal losses after oscillating between gains and losses amid volatility.

The S&P BSE Sensex closed 10 points lower at 60,106 after recouping 300 points from the day's low. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 index ended 18 points down at 17,896 after recovering from the session's low of 17,824.

On the 30-share BSE Sensex platform, the top drags were Bharti Airtel, HUL, Nestle, Cipla, Divi's Labs, Apollo Hospitals, IndusInd Bank, Reliance, Titan and Bajaj Finserv, which shed 1-3 per cent. On the flip side, Hindalco, BPCL, Sun Pharma, Ultratech Cement, TCS, HDFC twins, Tata Motors, L&T and ICICI Bank were the top index gainers, up 0.6-3 per cent.

Bharti Airtel was the top benchmark loser after JP Morgan downgraded the stock to 'Underweight'. Read to know why

Sun Pharma claimed the top winner spot on the Sensex with a gain of 1.7 per cent on launching an anti-cancer drug Palbociclib in India for patients with advanced breast cancer.

In the broader markets, BSE Midcap closed 0.3 per cent down and the Smallcap index ending slightly in green.

Within sectors, the Nifty FMCG, Pharma, Auto, and oil & gas indices exhibited the most weakness and ended 0.5-1 per cent down, while PSB, metal and banking pockets gained up to 0.7 per cent.

In the previous session on Tuesday, the S&P BSE Sensex settled at 60,115, down 631 points, while the NSE Nifty50 ended at 17,914, down 187 points.

Meanwhile, the rupee gained 18 paise to close at 81.56 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday, driven by foreign inflows from bonds selling and overall weakness in crude oil prices. However, a muted trend in domestic equities dented investor sentiments and capped the sharp gains in the rupee, traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 81.73 and touched an intra-day high of 81.52 and a low of 81.82 against the greenback. It finally ended at 81.56 (provisional), registering a rise of 18 paise over its previous close.

On Tuesday, the rupee settled at 81.74 against the US dollar.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.42 per cent to $80.44 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market on Tuesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 2,109.34 crore, according to exchange data.