Post Session: Sensex, Nifty end flat in choppy trade; IT, Teck stocks gain

Post Session: Sensex, Nifty end flat in choppy trade; IT, Teck stocks gain
23/08/2016 15:58
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The Indian equities ended flat with slim gain, paring early losses, in a choppy trade on Tuesday helped by buying in index heavyweights such as Infosys, TCS, Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints and Adani Ports. The volatility persisted in the market as investors awaited Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s speech on Friday at Jackson Hole, in which she may offer some cues over the timing of the next US interest rate hike.

The BSE SENSEX closed at 27990.21, up by 4.67 points or by 0.02 per cent, and the NSE Nifty ended at 8,632.60, up by 3.45 points or by 0.04 per cent.

Traders are seeking more clarity from the Fed over its outlook for further tightening of borrowing costs in the world’s biggest economy. Tightening of US monetary policy may lead to volatility in capital flows to emerging markets such as Asia’s third biggest economy. Meanwhile, volatility was also high at the local bourses as traders roll over their positions due to the August Futures & Options (F&O) contract expiry this Thursday.

On the corporate front, shares of Welspun India, India's leading terry towel producers, nosedived 20 per cent in intra-day trade and locked in lower circuit on the Bombay Stock Exchange after Bloomberg reported that the company is ending all business with the textile manufacturers, after saying the supplier was sending it phony Egyptian cotton sheets.

Among others, Tata Power Company, the electric utility arm of Tata group, dipped over 3 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange after the company reported a decline of 76.08 per cent in its consolidated net profit at Rs 72.49 crore for the first quarter ended June 30, 2016, as compared to Rs 303.14 crore in the year ago period.

In the volatile trade, the BSE Sensex touched intraday high of 28028.98 and intraday low of 27854.43, while the NSE Nifty touched intraday high of 8642.15 and intraday low of 8580.

The top gainers of the BSE Sensex pack were Infosys Ltd. (Rs. 1038.00,+2.23%), Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (Rs. 2598.05,+1.83%), Bharti Airtel Ltd. (Rs. 354.05,+1.10%), Asian Paints Ltd. (Rs. 1124.40,+0.98%), Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Ltd. (Rs. 273.25,+0.98%), among others.

Meanwhile, NTPC Ltd. (Rs. 159.60,-2.42%), Bajaj Auto Ltd. (Rs. 2891.50,-1.36%), Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (Rs. 1473.10,-1.27%), ITC Ltd. (Rs. 251.50,-1.00%), Hero MotoCorp Ltd. (Rs. 3305.00,-0.99%), were among top losers on BSE.

On the sectoral front, IT and Teck stocks emerged as top gainers on BSE, rising as much as 1.82 per cent and 1.78 per cent respectively.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On BSE out of total shares traded 3011, shares advanced were 1384 while 1416 shares declined and 211 were unchanged.

On the global front, the Asian shares ended mostly lower led by decline in energy producers on weakness in crude prices while traders weighed the prospects of a US rate hike this year. Shanghai Composite settled with modest gains even as China’s business sentiment indicator fell 1.2 points to 54.3 in August. Hang Seng ended flat, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended lower as a stronger yen dimmed the appeal of exporter stocks.