Equity markets settle a tad higher amid global volatility, withdrawal of foreign funds

Mumbai, Nov 13 (PTI) Stock markets' three-day winning run paused on Thursday with benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty closing slightly higher as volatile global sentiment triggered profit-booking, aiding the withdrawal momentum for foreign capital.

After oscillating between gains and losses during the day, the 30-share BSE barometer Sensex ended with a gain of 12.16 points, or 0.01 per cent, at 84,478.67. During the session, it touched a high of 84,919.43 and a low of 84,253.05.

The broader NSE Nifty closed the session in green with just 3.35 points, or 0.01 per cent, higher at 25,879.15.

From the Sensex pack, Asian Paints, ICICI Bank, PowerGrid, Larsen & Toubro, Bajaj Finserv, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Maruti Suzuki India, Axis Bank, UltraTech Cement and HCL Technologies were the only gainers.

On the other hand, Eternal, Tata Motors' commercial vehicles arm, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Steel, Bharat Electronics Ltd, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, Trent, Tata Consultancy Services, Hindustan Unilever, and Infosys were among the laggards.

"National equities closed flat after a positive session, as profit-booking erased early gains despite optimistic global and domestic cues. Sentiment was buoyed by Trump signing a short-term funding bill to end the US government shutdown and hopes of tariff relief for India," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Ltd, said.

Nair further stated that the record-low October inflation prints reinforced expectations of an interest rate cut by RBI, making rate-sensitive sectors like metals and realty attractive to investors.

"However, amidst continued outflows from FII and a weak rupee, profit-booking emerged at elevated levels ahead of the Bihar election results, which left the benchmark indices largely unchanged by the close," he added.

The BSE Midcap gauge fell 0.34 per cent and smallcap closed 0.30 per cent lower.

Among the sectoral indices, Consumer Durables climbed by 0.86 per cent, Telecommunication by 0.70 per cent, Realty by 0.43 per cent, Metal by 0.36 per cent, Utilities by 0.30 per cent, Services by 0.26 per cent, and Bankex by 0.13 per cent.

On the other hand, Capital Goods, Auto, FMCG, Consumer Discretionary, Oil & Gas, Energy, Healthcare, Industries, IT, Power and Teck closed lower.

A total of 2,450 stocks declined while 1,773 advanced and 144 remain unchanged on the BSE.

"Indian equity indices ended largely unchanged on November 13th, after a choppy trading session marked by cautious sentiment. Market participants stayed on the sidelines ahead of the Bihar election outcome due Friday morning. Additionally, traders adopted a wait-and-watch approach ahead of the release of US CPI data, which is expected to offer fresh cues on the Federal Reserve's rate trajectory," Bajaj Broking Research said in a note.

"Markets traded volatile and ended nearly unchanged on the weekly expiry day, pausing after the recent strong upmove. Following an initial dip, the Nifty maintained a positive tone for most of the session; however, late profit-taking erased intraday gains, leaving the index flat at 25,879.15.

"Sectorally, the trend remained mixed -- realty, pharma, and metal ended higher, while FMCG and IT witnessed mild pressure. Meanwhile, the broader markets also saw profit-booking, with both midcap and smallcap indices declining by around half a per cent," Ajit Mishra - SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said.

Mishra noted that the early optimism was underpinned by encouraging domestic macro data, particularly a sharp drop in retail inflation to a multi-year low of 0.25 per cent in October, fuelling expectations of a near-term RBI rate cut. Positive global cues, including strength in US equities, also supported sentiment through the day.

In Asian markets, Shanghai's SSE Composite Index, Hong Kong's Hang Seng, Japan's Nikkei 225 benchmark and South Korea's Kospi ended higher.

Markets in Europe were trading largely lower. The US markets finished higher in overnight deals on Wednesday.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, declined 0.29 per cent to USD 62.53 per barrel.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors remained net sellers for the third day in a row and offloaded equities worth Rs 1,750.03 crore on Wednesday. Domestic institutional investors sustained their buying spree and picked up of stocks worth Rs 5,127.12 crore, according to exchange data.

On Wednesday, the BSE Sensex rallied 595.19 points to settle at 84,466.51. The 50-share NSE Nifty climbed 180.85 points to close at 25,875.80.

The government on Wednesday approved an Export Promotion Mission (EPM) with an outlay of Rs 25,060 crore for six financial years, beginning this fiscal year, a move which will help exporters deal with high tariffs imposed by the US.

The mission will be implemented through two sub-schemes -- Niryat Protsahan (Rs 10,401 crore) and Niryat Disha (Rs 14,659 crore). PTI HG HVA