The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 34.09 points or 0.05% to settle at 72,152. During the day, it hit a high of 72,559.21 and a low of 71,938.22.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty closed flat in a volatile trade on February 7 ahead of Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) interest rate decision on February 8.
The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 34.09 points or 0.05% to settle at 72,152. During the day, it hit a high of 72,559.21 and a low of 71,938.22. The Nifty ended marginally up by 1.10 points or 0.01% to 21,930.50.
IT shares TCS, Infosys and Tech Mahindra declined due to profit taking offsetting gains from select banking and pharma shares.
“The domestic market exhibited cautious range-bound movement, despite robust PMI data and favourable global cues ahead of RBI policy meet. While no change in stance is anticipated, the RBI’s commentary on any hints regarding potential rate cuts and improvements in liquidity will be closely monitored,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services said.
Among the Sensex firms, State Bank of India rose the most by 3.78% after the bank announced the acquisition of SBI CAPS subsidiary for ₹708.07 crore. Nestle India gained 1.68% after it reported around 9% growth in sales. JSW Steel, Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank and Asian Paints were among the gainers.
Tech Mahindra, Power Grid, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, HDFC Bank, Wipro, Larsen & Toubro and NTPC were the major laggards.
In Asian markets, Seoul and Shanghai settled in the positive territory while Tokyo and Hong Kong ended in the negative zone. European markets were mostly quoting lower. The U.S. markets ended with gains on February 6.
“Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equities worth ₹92.52 crore on Tuesday,” according to exchange data. The BSE benchmark climbed 454.67 points or 0.63% to settle at 72,186.09 on Tuesday. The Nifty went up by 157.70 points or 0.72% to 21,929.40. Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.66% to $79.11 a barrel.
