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Markets end flat amid profit-booking
Stock markets maintained their positive streak for the fourth straight session on Wednesday with some late buying coming to the rescue amid a higher opening in Europe.
Sensex closes 7 points higher; Bourses to remain closed today, tomorrow
Mumbai: Stock markets maintained their positive streak for the fourth straight session on Wednesday with some late buying coming to the rescue amid a higher opening in Europe. The pre-dominant mood was one of caution as investors booked profit ahead of a long weekend after deadly terror attacks at the Brussels airport and a city metro station on Tuesday rekindled geo-political worries.
Markets will be shut on Thursday (today) and Friday on account of Holi and Good Friday respectively. The benchmark BSE Sensex rebounded from day’s lows to close up 7.07 points, or 0.03 per cent, at 25,337.56. At the close, the 50-share NSE Nifty was up 1.60 points, or 0.02 per cent, at 7,716.50. The meagre gains came on top of buying in metal, technology, IT and auto stocks.
For the week, the Sensex climbed 384.82 points, or 1.54 per cent, while NSE Nifty surged 112.15 points, or 1.47 per cent, amid and expectations that the Reserve Bank would reduce interest rates at its policy review meet on April 5. Both indices remained at their highest levels since January 6, a fresh 11-week high.
A total of 15 rose out of 30 stocks in the Sensex pack on Wednesday. Tata Steel topped the tally of gains, up 2.31 per cent, while Bharti Airtel closed 2.06 per cent higher. Bajaj Auto, Infosys, Coal India, Maruti Suzuki, Wipro, Hindustan Unilever, L&T, Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank, ITC, Hero MotoCorp and TCS too gained, rising by up to 2.05 per cent. RIL slumped 1.83 per cent while Lupin ended 1.63 per cent down.
The BSE metal index was the leader sectorally, climbing the most by 1.71 per cent, followed by technology (0.67 per cent) and IT (0.61 per cent). Foreign investors net bought shares worth Rs 1,095.44 crore on Tuesday, showed provisional data.
Most other Asian indices closed mixed in subdued trading as investors pulled back ahead of the long Easter weekend, choosing to stay cautious in view of the bombings in Brussels. Europe picked up the pieces and the indices moved on with gains in early deals.
