Sensex, Nifty close flat after volatile trading session

Mumbai: Indian equity indices closed flat on Thursday following a volatile session.

At closing on Thursday, Sensex was down 109 points or 0.14 per cent at 80,039, while Nifty fell 7 points or 0.03 per cent to 24,406.

The biggest decline was seen in banking shares with Nifty Bank falling 428 points or 0.83 per cent to close at 50,888.

Selling pressure was seen on small and medium stocks. The Nifty Midcap 100 index was down 131 points or 0.23 per cent at 56,741, while Nifty Smallcap was at 18,673, down 50 points or 0.27 per cent.

Tata Motors, L&T, Sun Pharma, Kotak Mahindra, Wipro, HDFC Bank, Power Grid, and Bajaj Finance were the top gainers in the Sensex pack, while Axis Bank, Nestle, ICICI Bank, Titan, and Tata Steel were the top losers.

Among the sectoral indices, metal, realty, private bank, fin service, PSU bank and IT were the major laggards, while auto, pharma, and energy were the major gainers.

Experts are of the view that after a volatile session, the market ended on a flat note influenced by lower-than-expected earnings growth from major banks.

Global indices also reacted pessimistically due to the disappointing results from top US tech companies.

Shrey Jain, Founder and CEO of SAS Online, said, "The market sentiment initially soured on Budget day due to a proposed hike in capital gains tax. Now, the sentiments have worsened following a sharp global market downturn, highlighted by Nasdaq's 3.64 per cent plunge, resulting in a significant gap-down opening on Thursday."

--IANS

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