Sensex Ends Flat After Swinging In Range Of 500 Points

The S&P BSE Sensex ended on a flat note on Thursday after swinging in a range of 501 points as gains in Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Hindustan Unilever, Bharti Airtel and HCL Technologies were offset by losses in Reliance Industries, HDFC, ICICI Bank, Infosys and Tech Mahindra. Likewise, the 50-share Nifty 50 index also ended little changed. During the day, the Nifty 50 index touched a high of 11,389 and a low of 11,245, swinging in a band of 120 points.

The Sensex ended 61 points or 0.1 per cent higher at 38,471 and the Nifty 50 index advanced 18 points or 0.1 per cent to close at 11,269.

The benchmarks have been swinging in a wide range as investors remain on edge tracking the possible economic impact of the deadly coronavirus outbreak in the country, say analysts.

Twelve of 19 sector gauges compiled by the BSE ended higher led by the S&P BSE Telecom index's 1.2 per cent gain. FMCG, Bankex, Consumer Durables, IT and healthcare sector gauges also rose between 0.5-1 per cent each.

On the other hand, S&P BSE Energy index was top loser, down 1.7 per cent.

Mid- and small-cap shares witnessed a mild buying interest as the S&P BSE MidCap and S&P BSE SmallCap indexes rose 0.3 per cent each.

Yes Bank was top Nifty gainer the stock rose as much as 29 per cent to Rs 37.85 after Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed people with the knowledge of the matter, that the government has allowed State Bank of India to form a consortium to buy stake in troubled Yes Bank.

Eicher Motors, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HCL Technologies, Hindustan Unilever, TCS, Britannia Industries, Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints, Vedanta and Bajaj Finance were also among the gainers.

On the flipside, Zee Entertainment, Hindalco, Bharti Infratel, Reliance Industries, Cipla, Tech Mahindra, Indian Oil, Grasim Industries and Tata Motors were also among the losers.

The overall market breadth was neutral as 1,195 shares ended higher while 1,216 closed lower on the BSE.