India's Sensex and Nifty closed almost unchanged on Friday, a day after a rebound, as elevated crude oil prices and rising U.S. Treasury yields kept investors cautious. Gains in Power Grid and Bharat Electronics offset losses in Trent and Maruti, while foreign investors kept selling equities.
Indian benchmarks stalled on Friday after Thursday's bounce, as elevated crude oil prices and a rebound in U.S. Treasury yields discouraged investors from taking aggressive positions. The BSE Sensex ended the session at 77,540.83, up just 3.11 points from the previous close, after swinging between an intraday high of 77,725.67 and a low of 77,445.86.
A choppy, range-bound session
The NSE Nifty also finished flat, up 20.15 points, or 0.08%, at 24,252. Hariselvan Radhakrishnan, founder and CEO of HST Wealth, said: "The renewed rise in U.S. bond yields has added another layer of uncertainty". He added that the standoff between the United States and Iran has kept geopolitical risk embedded in energy markets, leaving oil prices uncomfortable for an importing economy such as India.
Among the Sensex constituents, Power Grid, Bharat Electronics, Kotak Mahindra Bank, NTPC, Bajaj Finserv and Asian Paints led the gainers, while Trent, Maruti, InterGlobe Aviation and HCL Tech lagged. The BSE SmallCap Select index climbed 0.81% and the MidCap Select index rose 0.39%.
Foreign selling and firmer oil
Foreign Institutional Investors offloaded equities worth ₹583.36 crore on Thursday, exchange data showed. Brent crude, the global benchmark, edged up 0.06% to $93.84 a barrel. Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Investments, said elevated global bond yields continue to worry the market, adding that the Treasury's recent move to ease yields failed to provide lasting comfort given surging crude prices and persistent inflation fears.
On the weekly front, the BSE benchmark declined 468.42 points, or 0.60%, while the Nifty dipped 114 points, or 0.46%. In Asian trade, South Korea's Kospi, Shanghai's SSE Composite and Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended higher, while Japan's Nikkei 225 settled lower. European markets traded marginally higher, and U.S. markets had closed in negative territory on Thursday.
The pause follows Thursday's rebound, when the Sensex jumped 628.04 points, or 0.82%, to 77,537.72 after four days of decline, and the Nifty bounced back after seven days of losses to close at 24,231.85, up 153.55 points, or 0.64%.
Source: The Hindu
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