Sensex, Nifty settle flat in subdued trading; Reliance Industries earnings eyed

Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended flat on Friday (April 21) in a muted trade amid largely weak global markets and ahead of the quarterly earnings from the country’s most valued firm Reliance Industries.

In a volatile trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex edged up 22.71 points or 0.04% to settle at 59,655.06. During the day, it hit a high of 59,781.36 and a low of 59,412.81.

The broader NSE Nifty ended at 17,624.05, showing a marginal dip of 0.40 points.

Among the Sensex firms, ITC, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, Asian Paints, HCL Technologies, HDFC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finance, Infosys, Sun Pharma, Hindustan Unilever, Power Grid, Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank were the winners.

HCL Technologies climbed 1 per cent after the company on Thursday posted a 10.85% increase in consolidated net profit to ₹3,983 crore for the fourth quarter of 2022-23.

Tech Mahindra, Maruti, Tata Steel, UltraTech Cement, Tata Motors and ICICI Bank were among the laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Japan, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended lower.

European markets were trading on a mixed note. The U.S. markets ended in the negative territory on Thursday.

“Mounting uncertainty in both global and domestic markets has kept Indian equities highly volatile. Weak signals of a softening job market and declining manufacturing activity in the U.S. have raised fears of a possible recession. Despite the RBI MPC’s unanimous decision to pause rates, its minutes revealed that its members continue to hold concerns about high inflation.

“However, the market received some support towards the closing bell from the IT and FMCG sectors, facilitating its recovery,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.04% to $81.07 per barrel.

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) offloaded equities worth ₹1,169.32 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.