MUMBAI, India — India’s benchmark equity indices closed nearly unchanged on Thursday, giving up early gains as investors booked profits in major IT and auto stocks ahead of Friday’s Bihar election results.
The Sensex finished at 84,478.67, up 12.16 points, or 0.01 percent. The 30-share index opened stronger at 84,525.89 following Wednesday’s rally but swung between gains and losses through the session before ending flat. The Nifty also closed almost unchanged at 25,879.15, up 3.35 points, or 0.01 percent.
“National equities closed flat after a positive session, as profit-booking erased early gains despite optimistic global and domestic cues,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. He noted that sentiment was supported by President Donald Trump signing a short-term funding bill to end the U.S. government shutdown and increasing expectations of tariff relief for India.
Nair added that record-low October inflation reinforced expectations of an upcoming rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India, which boosted interest in rate-sensitive sectors such as real estate and metals.
Among Sensex stocks, ICICI Bank, PowerGrid, L&T, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, and Maruti Suzuki were the top gainers. Declining stocks included Tata Motors (commercial and passenger vehicles), Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Steel, BEL, Trent, TCS, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever, and Bajaj FinServ.
Sectoral performance was mixed. Nifty Financial Services rose 58 points (0.22 percent), and Nifty Bank climbed 107 points (0.18 percent). Nifty Auto dropped 102 points (0.37 percent), Nifty IT fell 175 points (0.48 percent), and Nifty FMCG declined 285 points (0.51 percent).
Broader markets saw selling pressure as small- and mid-cap stocks retreated. Nifty Small Cap 100 fell 66 points (0.37 percent), Nifty Midcap 100 declined 210 points (0.35 percent), while Nifty 100 ended flat.
The rupee traded in a narrow range near 88.67 as markets remained cautious ahead of the Bihar election outcome due Friday morning. Jateen Trivedi of LKP Securities said traders were also awaiting U.S. CPI data, which will likely influence dollar index trends and, in turn, the rupee. He expects the currency to remain range-bound between 88.40 and 88.95. (Source: IANS)
