Equity benchmarks end with marginal gains as investors watch IT bellwethers’ Q3 show

Mumbai: Benchmark equity indices ended marginally higher on Thursday, trimming most of their intra-day gains, as investors remained concerned over the quarterly results of IT behemoths TCS and Infosys.

Awaited announcements of the US inflation data on Thursday and domestic macroeconomic numbers on Friday also forced investors to stay on the sidelines.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 63.47 points or 0.09 per cent to settle at 71,721.18. During the day, it jumped 341.76 points or 0.47 per cent to 71,999.47. The Nifty gained 28.50 points or 0.13 per cent to 21,647.20.

Among the Sensex firms, Reliance Industries, UltraTech Cement, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, Power Grid, Tata Motors, Tech Mahindra and Tata Consultancy Services were the major gainers. Infosys, Hindustan Unilever, Wipro, Larsen & Toubro and Nestle were among the laggards.

“Global equities largely rose as investors awaited the US inflation data that will help clarify the path for Federal Reserve policy,” said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities.

In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge climbed 0.79 per cent and midcap index jumped 0.66 per cent.

Among the indices, energy jumped 1.57 per cent, oil & gas rallied 1.05 per cent, consumer durables (0.89 per cent) and consumer discretionary (0.71 per cent). Industrials, IT, services, realty and capital goods were among the laggards.

The rupee settled on a flat note with a loss of just 1 paisa at 83.04 against the dollar on Thursday on the back of strengthening American currency and sharp rise in crude oil prices.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 1.56 per cent to USD 78 a barrel. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,721.35 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.