Bengaluru, November 09 2023, The Europe Today: Indian shares were flat on Thursday, as the rally in financials and IT stocks since the U.S. Federal Reserve’s rate pause fizzled out.
The NSE Nifty 50 index eked out a gain of 0.02% to 19,447.60 as of 10:11 a.m. IST, while the S&P BSE Sensex edged 0.05% lower to 65,008.46.
“The momentum in markets seems to have eased after the recent rally,” said Anand James, chief market strategist at Geojit Financial Services. He pegs 19,360 as the Nifty’s new support level.
Seven of the 13 major sectors declined. Financials and IT, which account for nearly half of the weightage in the Nifty, were flat.
Each index had gained over 2% in the four sessions since the Fed rate pause on Nov. 1, before logging marginal losses in the previous session.
Real estate stocks surged 1.25% to a record, led by Brigade Enterprises’ 6.5% post-earnings rally.
The auto index gained 1%, led by a 2.5% rise in Mahindra & Mahindra ahead of its results on Friday.
Crude prices fell over 2% to a three-month low on Wednesday before ticking higher in Asia hours on Thursday.
Lower oil prices benefit net importers like India and its oil marketing companies. Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) extended gains, rising 1%.
The more domestic focussed small and mid-caps were up over 0.3% each.
Asian markets pared early gains after data showing a drop in consumer prices in China kindled worries over the country’s economic recovery.
Among stocks, Tata Consumer shed 1.5%, the most among Nifty constituents, dropping for the second straight day following an eight-session rally in which it gained nearly 5%.
