Stock Market: Sensex, Nifty Turn Flat Amid High Volatility; IT, Media Stocks Rise

Stock update: Tech Mahindra, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Wipro, TCS, Larsen & Toubro, HCL Tech, Infosys, Titan, Sun Pharma, and UltraTech Cement were among the major gainers in early trade on the BSE

Sensex and Nifty, the two key equity benchmarks, on Friday opened in the green tracking mixed trends from global equities. However, the domestic indices turned flat amid volatility. During early deals, the Sensex advanced 113 points but loses all the gains and turned choppy. The two benchmarks were oscillating between gains and losses.  

At 10.30 am, the BSE Sensex was down marginally by 4 points at 60,293, while the broader Nifty was trading at 17,956, down 0.15 per cent.   

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Tech Mahindra, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services, Larsen & Toubro, HCL Tech, Infosys, Titan, Sun Pharma, and UltraTech Cement were among the major gainers in early trade. On the flip side, IndusInd Bank, Power Grid, ICICI Bank, NTPC, and State Bank of India were among the biggest losers.

The market breadth of the BSE stood negative as out of 30 constituents, 13 were declining, while 17 were advancing.

In the broader markets, Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 surged up to 0.4 per cent.

Sectorwise, Nifty Media, Nifty Pharma, and Nifty Metal bucked the trend. Nifty Realty, Nifty Bank, and Nifty FMCG were the losers among the pack.

In the previous session on Thursday, the BSE benchmark index had ended 37 points (0.06 per cent higher), while the Nifty gained 12 points (0.07 per cent) to end at 17,956.

"The market momentum which pushed the Nifty up by 18 per cent from the June lows is likely to face some headwinds from now on. The sudden sharp spike in the dollar index will impact capital flows to emerging markets like India. The consistent FII buying seen in August is likely to lose steam impacting sentiments," said V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

In Asian markets, Seoul and Shanghai were trading lower, while Tokyo and Hong Kong quoted in the green in mid-session deals. Markets on the Wall Street had ended higher on Thursday.

The international oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.38 per cent lower at $96.21 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded shares after many days as they sold shares worth Rs 1,706 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, the rupee declined 12 paise to 79.76 against the US dollar in opening trade on Friday, tracking the strength of the American currency in the overseas market.