Benchmark indices trade flat; Metal shares lead the decline

Benchmark indices were trading flat on Thursday with minor fluctuations led by metals.

At 1 pm, BSE Sensex was at 49,858.74, down 43.9 points or 0.09 per cent from the day’s low of 49,781.48. It hit an intra-day high of 50,099.17. Nifty 50 was down 37.65 points or 0.25 per cent at 14,992.50. It touched an intra-day high of 15,069.80 and low of 14,960.50.

“In morning trade, Indian equity indices continued their weak performance ahead of the weekly expiry of index futures and options contracts,” said Gaurav Garg, Head of Research, CapitalVia Global Research Ltd.

“Traders remain cautious, rating agency ICRA said as the rise in headline data of key economic indicators in April is due to base effect and the economy will face tough times as consumer morale remains low. US markets fell further, as Federal Reserve participants agreed that the US economy remained off the central bank’s target. Asian markets were mostly trading in the red following global peers,” Garg said.

On the Nifty 50, Mahindra & Mahindra, Cipla, BPCL, Titan and IndusInd Bank were the top gainers while Tata Steel, Hindalco, Britannia, ONGC and Tata Motors were the top gainers.

metals under pressure

On the regional front, most of the indices remained in the red.

Pressure remained on metals and autos. FMCG and IT stocks also declined.

Nifty Metal was down 2.43 per cent while Nifty Auto was down 0.35 per cent. Nifty FMCG was down 0.42 percent. Nifty IT was down 0.37 percent.

Pharma stocks also erased the previous session’s gains, with Nifty Pharma falling 0.04 per cent.

Nifty PSU Bank remained resilient and was up 0.63 per cent. Nifty Realty also managed to make gains, trading with marginal gains and was up 0.54 per cent.

Broad indices remain resilient

The broad indices remained resilient and outperformed the benchmarks in a volatile market.

Nifty Midcap 50 was up 0.11 per cent while Nifty Smallcap 50 was up 0.30 per cent.

S&P BSE Midcap was up 0.13 per cent while S&P BSE Smallcap was up 0.56 per cent.

Notably, the volatility index rose by 1.08 percent to 19.53.