Benchmarks close unchanged as losses in IT, FMCG offset gains in oil & auto stocks

Mumbai: Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty closed unchanged after a volatile session on Friday as gains in oil & gas and auto shares were offset by losses in IT and FMCG shares.

After a volatile trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex closed lower by 7.25 points or 0.01 per cent at 80,710.76 with 14 of its components ending with gains and 16 with losses.

In a see-saw trade, the barometer opened higher but slipped into the red in late morning deals. It hit a low of 80,321.19 in the afternoon session before paring losses in the pre-close session. The index gyrated 715.37 points between the day’s high and low.

The 50-share NSE Nifty eked out gains of 6.70 points or 0.03 per cent to close at 24,741.

Among Sensex firms, Mahindra & Mahindra climbed 2.34 per cent, followed by Maruti which climbed 1.70 per cent. Power Grid, Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel and Eternal also were also among the gainers.

However, ITC, HCL Tech, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra and Infosys were among the laggards.

BSE smallcap gauge went up by 0.09 per cent, while midcap index dipped 0.10 per cent.

BSE Focused IT dropped the most by 1.44 per cent, followed by IT (1.25 per cent), FMCG (1.22 per cent), realty (1.07 per cent), teck (0.70 per cent) and services (0.60 per cent).

Among BSE sectoral indices, auto jumped 1.30 per cent and telecommunication climbed 0.96 per cent. Metal (0.71 per cent), consumer discretionary (0.60 per cent) and energy (0.20 per cent) also advanced.

On the weekly front, the BSE benchmark jumped 901.11 points or 1.12 per cent, and the Nifty climbed 314.15 points or 1.28 per cent.

FIIs offloaded equities worth Rs 106.34 crore on Thursday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DII) bought stocks worth Rs 2,233.09 crore, according to exchange data.