Sensex, Nifty End Flat Amid Volatility; Infosys Gains 1%

The benchmark BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty indices ended virtually unchanged post a 12-day record-breaking run. The BSE Sensex gyrated 722 points between an intra-day high of 49,795.19 and a low of 49,073.85 before ending the session at 49,492.32, down 24.79 points, while the NSE Nifty ended at 14,564.85, up one point. The broader markets under-performed the benchmark indices; BSE Midcap and Smallcap ended lower by 0.6 percent and 0.4 percent respectively.

The BSE Sensex had opened the day at 49,765.93 and touched an intra-day high of 49,697.18, just around 300 points short of the 50,000 mark, before succumbing to volatility.

Meanwhile, the rupee ended higher by 10 paise at 73.15 per dollar. It had started the day higher by 8 paise at 73.17 per dollar versus Tuesday's close of 73.25.

All the BSE sectoral indices ended in the green, with the exception of the pharma space. Among individual stocks, M&M, SBI, Adani Ports and IOC were among major gainers on the Sensex, adding 3 per cent to 6 per cent each, while Bajaj Finance, HDFC and Bajaj Finserv ended on the losing side, shedding up to 2.7 per cent each.

Among the earnings candidates for the day, Infosys gained 1.2 per cent at Rs 1,387.15 and Wipro edged higher by 0.2 per cent at Rs 459 on the BSE ahead of December quarter numbers scheduled to be announced later in the day.

The BSE market breadth was weak at closing, with 1,200 advancing shares as against 1,807 declines.