Insipid performance by Nifty and Sensex

The Indian stock market closed flat for the second consecutive session, despite strong gains from global and Asian markets. Pressure from IT and pharma stocks kept the frontline indices near their previous day's levels.

Banking stocks, on the other hand, posted notable gains during the session, as experts believed a sector rotation was underway from the pharma and IT sectors to banking. However, the significant rise in bank heavyweights failed to lift the indices higher.

Tiny gains  for Nifty, Sensex

Consequently, the Nifty 50 closed the session with a gain of 0.07%, finishing below the 25,000 mark at 24,998. Similarly, the Sensex wrapped up the day with a 0.18% gain, settling at 81,611.

Of the 50 constituents in the Nifty index, 23 closed in the positive territory, with Kotak Mahindra Bank leading the way, rising 4.2%. Other notable performers included HDFC Bank, Bharat Electronics, IndusInd Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Tech Mahindra, Power Grid Corp, M&M, JSW Steel, NTPC, and Axis Bank, all of which finished today's session with gains exceeding 1%.

Mid- and small-cap stocks displayed a mixed performance during the session. The Nifty Midcap 100 index closed 0.30% lower at 58,935 points, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index finished in positive territory, gaining 0.19% to end at 18,900 points.

Among the sectoral indices, the Nifty Private Bank index closed the session up by 1.59%, followed by the Nifty PSE with a gain of 0.71%, and the Nifty Metal, which saw an increase of 0.4%. Conversely, the Nifty Pharma index declined by 2.01%, while the Nifty IT index dropped by 1.25%. The Nifty FMCG ended the trading day with a decrease of 0.45%.

Commenting on today's market performance, Vinod Nair of Geojit Financial Services said, "The market traded on a range-bound trend with a negative bias ahead of the start of Q2 result. The Asian market started well but could not hold on to the gains as European markets waved on a negative trend in anticipation of the key US inflation data, global bond yields are rising. Domestic broader market momentum was mixed with caution as the initial expectation of Q2 results is subdued due to a subpar momentum in the global and rural demand."

Chinese stocks recover 

Meanwhile, Chinese stocks resumed their upward momentum in today's session after a significant decline on Wednesday, which was prompted by investor concerns over the lack of details in the stimulus package. This renewed rally followed the Chinese central bank's launch of a 500-billion yuan facility aimed at boosting capital markets.

China's blue-chip CSI300 index closed the session up by 1%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index soared over 3%. In September last week, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) unveiled two new measures to support the capital market, including a swap program designed to facilitate easier access to funding for funds, insurers, and brokers to purchase stocks.

(By arrangement with livemint.com)