Sensex, Nifty close marginally down amid profit-taking ahead of key financial results

Mumbai: Benchmark Sensex and Nifty closed marginally down in a rangebound session on Thursday as investors booked profits in heavyweights ahead of the announcement of key financial results for the June quarter.

Retreating from early highs, the 30-share BSE Sensex closed lower by 27.43 points or 0.03 per cent at 79,897.34. As many as 15 Sensex shares closed with gains while the rest declined.

The index climbed 245.32 points to hit a high of 80,170.09 in early trade but later lost momentum due to selling in index heavyweights. The barometer hit a day's low of 79,464.38, down by 460.39 points from the last close.

The NSE Nifty edged down 8.50 points or 0.03 per cent to settle at 24,315.95. The broader index gyrated between a high of 24,402.65 and a low of 24,193.75 in day trade.

"The main indices are trading in a narrow range, struggling to justify its premium valuation ahead of the Q1 earnings season, which is forecast to be subdued," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services said.

Among Sensex shares, Bajaj Finance fell the most by 1.48 per cent. Mahindra & Mahindra (1.24 per cent), NTPC (1.14 per cent) and Nestle (1.05 per cent) were also among the major losers. HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma, Power Grid, UltraTech Cement, Bharti Airtel, RIL and Larsen & Toubro also declined.

On the other hand, FMCG major ITC rose the most by 1.64 per cent. Tata Motors, Asian Paints and Titan also gained..

TCS gained 0.33 per cent ahead of the release of its quarterly financial results. India's largest IT services company after market hours reported an 8.7 per cent year-on-year rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs 12,040 crore in the first quarter ended June 2024. Its revenue rose by 5.4 per cent year-on-year to Rs 62,613 crore for the June quarter.

"After the flat start, the Nifty oscillated in a range and finally settled at 24,315.95 levels. Meanwhile, a mixed trend on the sectoral front kept the traders occupied wherein energy and FMCG ended in the green while realty and pharma closed lower," Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd said.

In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge climbed 0.57 per cent and midcap index went up by 0.34 per cent.

Analysts said the broader market is exhibiting marginal momentum, led by a shift in FIIs inflow and budget expectations.

"Attention is now focused on the US inflation data, which is estimated to moderate and positively influence Fed's interest rate decisions," Nair said.

Among the indices, realty declined by 1.41 per cent, auto by 0.43 per cent and utilities by 0.19 per cent.

Oil & Gas jumped 1.68 per cent, while energy (1.20 per cent), services (1.13 per cent), industrials (0.31 per cent) and telecommunication (0.24 per cent) also advanced.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled higher. European markets were trading in positive territory. US markets ended significantly higher on Wednesday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 583.96 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.21 per cent to USD 85.26 a barrel.