Stock Market: Sensex, Nifty End Flat; Nifty Holds 17,600 Mark; ITC Gains 2%

Stock Market Update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, ITC, TCS, Wipro, Asian Paints were among the major gainers. On the other hand, Tech Mahindra, Maruti, Tata Steel were among the major losers. 

The equity markets on Friday closed with marginal gains as investors remained cautious after HCL Tech earnings and await the quarterly earnings of the country's top firm by market capitalisation, Reliance Industries. At the closing bell, the S&P Sensex settled at 59,655, up 23 points. The NSE Nifty 50 ended almost unmoved at 17,624.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, ITC, TCS, Wipro, Asian Paints, HCL Tech, and HDFC were among the major gainers. On the other hand, Tech Mahindra, Maruti, Tata Steel, UltraTech, Tata Motor, and ICICI Bank were among the major losers. 

Among specific stocks on Nifty, ITC, TCS, Britannia, Wipro, and Cipla were among the top gainers, while losers were HDFC Life, Tech Mahindra, Adani Enterprises, SBI Life, and Tata Steel.

In terms of market capitalization, ITC overtook HDFC to rank as India's seventh most valuable company. The stock increased 1.9 per cent to Rs 408 per share. 

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap index was down 0.4 per cent, and the Smallcap 0.3 per cent.

Among sectors, the Auto and Metal indices slipped 1 per cent each. On the other side, the FMCG index advanced 0.8 per cent, and the IT index added 0.6 per cent.

In the previous session on Thursday, the market closed with the Sensex up 65 points or 0.11 per cent at 59,632, and the Nifty marginally gained 6 points or 0.03 per cent at 17,624. 

Global markets on Thursday remained directionless after disappointing quarterly reports from Tesla Inc and AT&T Inc. Investors also remained anxious over a possible interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve. On Wall Street, Dow Jones futures were down 0.04 per cent, the S&P 500 gained 0.01 per cent and Nasdaq 100 dipped 0.04 per cent. In European, Euro Stoxx 50 remained flat while FTSE MIB rose 0.13 per cent. Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.32 per cent.

In the midst of muted risk appetite, the Indian rupee edged slightly higher versus the dollar on Friday. The rupee ended the day at 82.09 against the dollar, down from 82.1475 the previous day. 

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the Rupee opened strong at 82.11 against the US currency. The rupee touched an intra-day high of 82.07 and a low of 82.19. It finally ended the session at 82.09 (provisional) against the greenback, registering a gain of 8 paise over its previous close. On Thursday, the rupee closed at 82.17 against the US currency.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.05 per cent to 101.89.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures declined 0.15 per cent to $80.98 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market on Thursday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,169.32 crore, according to exchange data.