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Markets end flat amid choppy trade
Stock markets ended flat on Friday, breaking their two-week long winning streak as muted fourth quarter earnings offset gains in oil stocks.
Muted Q4 earnings weigh on bourses; Sensex adds just 3 pts
Mumbai: Stock markets ended flat on Friday, breaking their two-week long winning streak as muted fourth quarter earnings offset gains in oil stocks. The benchmark BSE Sensex moved sideways for the most part and ended little changed at 25,607. Pharma, power and PSU stocks stayed in the limelight.
Selective buying towards the fag end on the first day of the May series of derivatives contracts mainly helped the key indices close in the positive zone, though with minor upward changes. After resuming higher, the Sensex swung between gains and losses before settling 3.52 points, or 0.01 per cent higher at 25,606.62 points.
The index had lost 461.02 points in the last session after BOJ took investors by surprise by deciding against fresh stimulus and April F&O expiry. On similar lines, the broader Nifty ended higher by 2.55 points, or 0.03 per cent, at 7,849.80 after trading between 7,889.05 and 7,788.70. On a weekly basis, the BSE Sensex ended 231.52 points, or 0.89 per cent down, while NSE Nifty fell 49.50 points, or 0.62 per cent.
Fresh positions built up by participants following beginning of May series in the derivatives segment helped trading sentiment improve. However, disappointing Q4 earnings by top private lender ICICI Bank came as a spoiler. ICICI Bank shares ended 1.48 per cent lower after the company reported decline in standalone net profit for the fourth quarter ended March.
HCL Technologies tanked 6.19 per cent after its quarterly show. In the 30-share Sensex pack, 17 ended higher and 12 lower, while Hero MotoCorp ended flat. Lupin gained the most by surging 1.94 per cent, followed by Cipla (1.89 per cent).
In the sectoral indices, the BSE realty gained the most by rising 1.18 per cent, followed by power by 0.93 per cent, healthcare by 0.76 per cent, metal 0.51 per cent, oil&gas 0.39 per cent and banking 0.33 per cent. The mid-cap index ended 0.22 per cent higher but small-cap index shed 0.05 per cent.
Overseas, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.50 per cent while Shanghai Composite shed 0.25 per cent. European markets too slid in early deals as losses in US equities weighed on sentiment.
