After starting on a strong note, the domestic stock market turned highly volatile in the intra-day session and ended flat on Wednesday, weighed down by blue-chips such as Reliance Industries (RIL), HDFC Bank, and Infosys.
The S&P BSE Sensex today ended 25 points or 0.07 per cent lower at 37,663 levels while NSE’s Nifty settled at 11,102, up 6 points or 0.06 per cent. Of Sensex’s 30 constituents, 19 advanced while 11 declined. Volatility index, India VIX, dropped over 1 per cent to 23.5 levels.
On the sectoral front, metal stocks rallied the most. The Nifty Metal index jumped over 4 per cent to 2,269 levels with 13 out of 15 constituents advancing and the rest two ending in the red. READ MORE
In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index ended 0.39 per cent higher at 13,910 levels while the S&P BSE SmallCap index ended at 13,430, up 0.85 per cent.
Among individual stocks, SPARC settled nearly 7 per cent higher at Rs 186.50 on the BSE after the company declared healthy June quarter results on Tuesday. The company’s net profit in Q1FY21 came in at Rs 56.69 crore, compared with a loss of Rs 94.19 crore in the year-ago quarter. READ MORE
PI Industries gained over 3.5 per cent to Rs 1,896.20 on the BSE after the company reported a strong set of numbers for the first quarter of the financial year 2020-21 (FY21). The stock hit an all-time high of Rs 1,966 during the session. READ MORE
Global markets
European stocks opened higher, aided by a batch of positive earnings. US equity futures rose too, indicating a firm open for Wall Street, while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside of Japan rose 0.7 per cent to a 6-1/2 month peak.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei dipped 0.26 per cent and Australia’s benchmark index slipped 0.6 per cent, notable underperformers in otherwise generally upbeat Asian stock markets. South Korea’s Kospi hit its highest level since October 2018.
In commodities, Gold scaled an all-time peak, after topping the $2,000 mark in the previous session, spurred on by a weaker dollar, falling US Treasury yields and expectations of more stimulus measures to revive a pandemic-ravaged economy.
Oil prices, too, firmed after data showed a big drop in US crude inventories.