MUMBAI– Indian equities closed flat on Thursday as investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of the August 15 meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Sensex ended at 80,597.66, up 57 points, or 0.07 percent. The 30-share index opened slightly higher at 80,625.28, compared to the previous close of 80,539.91, and traded in a narrow range throughout the session, hitting an intraday high of 80,751.18 and a low of 80,489.86. The Nifty closed at 24,631.30, up 11.95 points, or 0.05 percent.
“After a volatile weekly expiry-day session, Indian equities ended flat as investors traded cautiously ahead of the U.S.-Russia summit. IT and pharma stocks advanced on the back of softer U.S. inflation data and a dovish outlook. Banking and consumer durables also gained on hopes of a consumption-led recovery,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
Metals and energy stocks lagged due to falling commodity prices and oversupply concerns. Nair noted that S&P’s upgrade of India’s credit rating with a stable outlook — citing strong policy continuity and infrastructure-led growth — is likely to support the domestic market. In the near term, he expects trading to remain range-bound with a mixed bias ahead of key geopolitical events.
Top Sensex gainers included Eternal, Infosys, Asian Paints, HDFC Bank, Bajaj FinServ, Titan, and Maruti Suzuki. Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, BEL, Ultratech Cement, Hindustan Unilever, and HCL Tech were among the leading losers.
Sectoral performance was mixed: Nifty Financial Services rose 95 points, Nifty Bank gained 160 points, and Nifty IT advanced 140 points, while Nifty FMCG fell 353 points and Nifty Auto closed lower. Broader indices followed a similar trend, with Nifty Next 50 down 110 points (0.17%), Nifty 100 flat, Nifty Midcap 100 down 177 points (0.31%), and Nifty Smallcap 100 down 66 points (0.38%).
The rupee ended at 87.54, down 0.10 paise (0.10%), in line with range-bound moves in the dollar index at 97.83. “Markets remain watchful ahead of Friday’s key meeting between U.S. President Trump and Russian President Putin over possible peace talks on the Russia-Ukraine war. The rupee is expected to trade in the 87.25–88.00 range,” said Jateen Trivedi of LKP Securities. (Source: IANS)
