Profit booking, higher crude oil prices subdue equity indices

5 Dariya News

Mumbai 03-Jan-2018

The key indices of the Indian equity market closed Wednesday's trade session on a flat note after investors booked profit in automobile and oil and gas stocks.According to market analysts, profit booking and a rise in global crude oil prices pared the initial gains made on the back of positive Asian markets.Consequently, the 30-scrip S&P BSE Sensex, which had ended the previous session at 33,812.26 points, closed at 33,793.38 points, down a mere 18.88 points or 0.06 per cent. However, there was a swing of over 200 points between the intra-day high and low levels. The Sensex touched a high of 33,998.37 points and a low of 33,765.43 points on an intra-day basis.Similarly, the National Stock Exchange's (NSE) Nifty50 closed on a flat note. It ended the day's trade at 10,443.20 points, inching up by only 1 point or 0.01 per cent."Markets ended on a flat note on Wednesday after witnessing a roller coaster ride. The main indices initially opened higher and hit a fresh intra-day high in morning trade. They then hovered in positive territory on the back of positive global cues before profit booking emerged at higher levels in mid-morning trade," Deepak Jasani, Head, Retail Research, HDFC Securities, told IANS.Said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services: "Metals outperformed on expectation of earnings growth whereas auto stock witnessed profit booking after the recent run up. Investors are awaiting the result season to begin for signs of earnings upgrade."

On the currency front, the Indian rupee weakened by six paise to close at 63.53-54 against the US dollar from its previous close at 63.48.Provisional data with the exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors purchased scrips worth Rs 96.31 crore while domestic institutional investors sold stocks worth Rs 269.20 crore.Sectorwise, the S&P BSE automobile index fell by 147.19 points, oil and gas index by 42.63 points and IT index by 35.75 points.On the other hand, S&P BSE capital goods index rose by 285.04 points, followed by metal index by 202.16 points and consumer durables index by 181.61 points.Major Sensex gainers on Wednesday were: Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, up 2.78 per cent at Rs 407.85; Larsen and Toubro, up 2.17 per cent at Rs 1,276.15; ICICI Bank, up 1.88 per cent at Rs 315.05; Yes Bank, up 1.33 per cent at Rs 315.80; and Hindustan Unilever, up 0.80 per cent at Rs 1,350.10.Major Sensex losers were: DrReddy's Lab, down 2.97 per cent at Rs 2,336.20; Wipro, down 2.73 per cent at Rs 310.20; ONGC, down 1.65 per cent at Rs 193.70; Bajaj Auto, down 1.42 per cent at Rs 3,247.45; and Maruti Suzuki, down 1.35 per cent at Rs 9,416.75.