Mumbai, Nov 6 (IANS) The key equity indices closed Samvat 2074 on a timid note, as the S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 ended flat on Tuesday.
Accordingly, the just concluded Samvat, which marks the closure of yearly account books, saw the benchmark Sensex gain eight per cent on a year-on-year basis, while the Nifty50 rose 3.8 per cent.
In the day’s trade, the domestic equity market, which had opened on a positive note, failed to hold on to its gains, as selling pressure in index pivotals like banking and finance sectors subdued investors’ sentiments.
On a sector-specific basis IT, TECK (technology, entertainment and media) and consumers durables stocks made gains on the BSE by over one per cent each, while the banking and finance counters slipped.
Index-wise, the S&P BSE Sensex rose 40.99 points to 34,991.91 points. It had opened at 35,076.24 points from its previous close of 34,950.92 points.
It touched an intra-day high of 35,196.03 points and a low of 34,889.72 points.
Similarly, the NSE Nifty50 closed flat at 10,530 points.
Apart from the main indices, the broader markets like the S&P BSE MidCap index declined by 0.62 per cent, while the S&P BSE SmallCap index was also down 0.06 per cent. The market breadth was flat with 1,271 advances and 1,292 declines.
“Overseas, Asian stocks were mixed as investors looked to the US midterm elections set for later in the day,” said Abhijeet Dey, Senior Fund Manager-Equities, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund.
“The PSU banking, FMCG and metals indices traded with sharp losses while the media and IT indices notched up marginal gains.”
According to HDFC Securities’ Retail Research Head Deepak Jasani: “Technically, while the Nifty has ended flat, the underlying short term trend remains up. Further upsides are likely once the immediate resistance of 10,600 is taken out.”
“Crucial supports to watch for any weakness are at 10,492.”
In terms of currency, the rupee closed at 73 to a US dollar from its previous close of 73.12.
Investment wise, the provisional data with the exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors sold stocks worth Rs 499.71 crore, while the domestic institutional investors bought scrip worth Rs 118.69 crore.
The equity market indices on Monday had reacted positivily to SBI’s first profit in the previous four quartes but investors turned bearish on Tuesday “taking note of the grey areas in the results”. The bank’s scrip declined 3.39 per cent to Rs 285.30 a share.
“The results appeared to be positive on the first instance since the lending major logged gains after three straight losses, but investors realised the results had some grey areas like SME slippage,” Deepak Jasani, Head of HDFC Securities told IANS.
The other top Sensex laggards were: Axis Bank down 2.98 per cent at Rs 286.50; Maruti Suzuki down 1.31 per cent at Rs 7,073.25; IndusInd Bank, down 1.09 per cent at Rs 1,475.50; Adani Ports down 1 per cent at Rs 325.75 per share.
On the other hand, top gainers were: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), up 2.22 per cent at Rs 1,931.95; Tata Motors(DVR), up 2.11 per cent at Rs 104.15; Yes Bank, up 1.95 per cent at Rs 214.45; Reliance Industries, up 1.37 per cent at Rs 1,103.45 a share.
The two key stock exchanges — BSE and NSE — will conduct a special ‘Muhurat’ trading session on Wednesday, November 7 between 5.30 p.m. and 6.30 p.m.
The special trading session held every year on Diwali is considered to be auspicious for stock market trading. It is believed that the “Muhurat” trading on this day brings wealth and prosperity throughout the year.
The trading community has observed this ritual for ages.
–IANS
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