The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Thursday ended flat while exhibiting lacklustre trade throughout the day amid mixed global cues. The S&P BSE Sensex closed marginally down by 6 points to 66,018. The index hit a high of 66,235, and a low of 65,981 in intraday. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 settled at 19,802, down 10 points.
On the 30-share Sensex platform, UltraCemco, L&T, Bajaj Finance, TCS, Infosys, NTPC were among the losers. On the flip side, IndusInd Bank, JSW Steel, Airtel, HDFC Bank, Wipro, Tata Steel emerged gainers. Among specific stocks, Hero MotoCorp gained nearly 5 per cent was the top gainer among the Nifty 50 stocks. Bajaj Auto rallied over 3 per cent, while Cipla plunged almost 8 per cent.
A total of 1,748 shares advanced, 1,407 shares dropped, while 120 shares remain unchanged.
In the broader market, the BSE Midcap advanced 0.2 per cent, while the Smallcap added 0.5 per cent.
Sectorwise, auto, bank, metal, FMCG, realty, oil & gas gained, while pharma index went down 1 per cent.
In the previous session on Wednesday, the BSE Sensex closed with a nominal gain of 92 points at 66,023, while the NSE Nifty50 settled at 19,811, up 28 points.
"Range-bound momentum continued on main indexes as the market looked for new triggers for a decisive move beyond the 19,800 level. However, the broad markets' undercurrent is strong and rapid buying has emerged in the mid and small-cap counters as a bargaining strategy arose on recent underperforming stocks. The declining oil prices and ease in US bond yields are the key positives for a broader recovery for the market," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
In Asian markets, Seoul, Shanghai, and Hong Kong settled in the green. European markets were trading with marginal gains. The US markets ended in positive territory on Wednesday.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 1.50 per cent to $80.73 a barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 306.56 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, the rupee slipped by 2 paise to settle at 83.34 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday due to FII outflows and weak local equities. Oil prices sliding more than 1 per cent and the US currency trading lower against its major global rivals restricted the rupee's fall, forex dealers said.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened higher at 83.30 against the US dollar. It later moved in a tight range of 83.29 to 83.36 in the day trade. The rupee finally closed lower by 2 paise at 83.34. The unit had closed at 83.32 on Wednesday.