Profit bookings coupled with no active triggers subdued the sentiments in the Indian equity markets which closed flat on Friday.The sensitive index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) closed flat, gaining only 17 points or 0.06 percent.The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also ended the day's trade flat. It was marginally higher by 1.80 points or 0.02 percent at 8,609.85 points.The S&P BSE 30-scrip Sensex opened at 28,480.92 points, and closed the day's trade at 28,463.31 points, up 17.19 points, or 0.06 percent from its previous close of 28,446.12 points.
The Sensex touched a high of 28,576.32 points and a low of 28,417.46 points during the intra-day trade.Analysts said that the markets remained choppy due to lack of triggers from both the domestic and global fronts. Profit bookings after two consecutive days of rally also subdued the markets.
The barometer index rose by more than 247 points on Thursday, while it ended Wednesday's trade with gains of over 265 points."With no positive cue on the horizon, the markets are expected to be range-bound and sideways," Alex Mathews, head research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services, told IANS."Markets have already factored in the hopes of a rate cut, subdued first quarter results, and Greece and Iran deals. So, for the moment there are no triggers for the markets to react to."Analysts pointed out that investors are now focusing on the earnings season along with the monsoon session of parliament for more cues. "After a strong outperformance over the course of the month, India is taking a pause, awaiting clarification regarding the composite cap and as well as outcome of the important parliament monsoon session," said Gaurav Jain, director of Hem Securities.
The monsoon session of parliament starts from July 21. There are high expectations on the passage of GST (goods and services tax) and land bills. The two bills are currently under preview of the parliamentary select committees.During Friday's trade, only bank, metal, realty and oil and gas indices out of the 12 sector-based indices of the S&P BSE closed in the red.The S&P BSE consumer durables index soared by 209.77 points, the healthcare index jumped by 121.84 points, automobile index gained 98.90 points, IT index rose 98.32 points and the capital goods index increased 91.07 points.The S&P BSE bank index declined by 84.51 points, metal index was lower 40.86 points, the realty index fell 7.09 points and oil and gas index slipped by 1.32 points.
The major Sensex gainers during Friday's trade were: BHEL, up 2.02 percent at Rs.285.40; Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M), up 1.74 percent at Rs.1,298.30; Infosys, up 1.44 percent at Rs.1,002; Vedanta, up 1.25 percent at Rs.145.50; and ITC, up 1.23 percent at Rs.321.80.The major Sensex losers were: HDFC, down 2.46 percent at Rs.1,327.10; Coal India, down 1.88 percent at Rs.429.85, Hindustan Uniliver, down 1.07 percent at Rs.926, Axis Bank, down 1.06 percent at Rs.602.30 and Wipro, down 0.81 percent at Rs.568.60.Among the Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei was up by 0.25 percent, China's Shanghai Composite Index rose by 3.51 percent, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained by 1 percent.In Europe, the London FTSE 100 index was down by 0.16 percent, while the French CAC 40 was higher by 0.12 percent. The Germany's DAX Index fell by 0.20 percent at the closing bell here.