Mumbai Aug 24 (IANS) Key Indian equity indices -- the NSE Nifty50 and the BSE Sensex -- on Thursday closed on a flat-to-positive note as short covering in healthcare stocks coupled with positive European markets and a strong rupee kept investors sentiments afloat.
The wider 51-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed fractionally higher by 4.55 points or 0.05 per cent at 9 857.05 points.
The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE which opened at 31 673.44 points provisionally closed at 31 596.06 points -- up 28.05 points or 0.09 per cent from the previous close at 31 568.01 points.
The Sensex touched a high of 31 678.19 points and a low of 31 546.05 points during the intra-day trade.
The BSE market breadth was bullish with 1 452 advances and 1 119 declines.
In terms of the broader markets the S&P BSE mid-cap index rose by 0.80 per cent and the small-cap index by 0.46 per cent.
"Benchmark indices traded flat on Thursday following Asian markets which shrugged off comments from US President Donald Trump about a shutdown of his government if the US Congress fails to fund a Mexico border wall " Dhruv Desai Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls told IANS.
"Investors also kept a close eye on a central banking conference in Jackson Hole Wyoming which begins (later) on Thursday where Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi are both due to speak " Desai added.
On the currency front the Indian rupee strengthened by 7-8 paise to 64.03-04 to a US dollar from its previous close at 64.11.
In investments provisional data with the exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold scrips worth Rs 696.93 crore while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased stocks worth Rs 1 044.38 crore.
"After opening on a positive note today the Nifty failed to display upside momentum and remained within a small range of 32 points through the day. Highlight for the day was outperformance of pharma stocks " said Deepak Jasani Head of Retail Research HDFC Securities told IANS.
"Sectorally most of the sectors of the broader markets moved up marginally except NSE pharma which rose sharply. European indices like FTSE 100 DAX and CAC 40 traded higher " he added.
Sector-wise the S&P BSE healthcare index surged by 326.98 points followed by capital goods index by 90 points and the IT index by 68.42 points.
On the other hand the S&P BSE FMCG index fell by 23.67 points the oil and gas index by 17.93 points and the realty index by 17.50 points.
Major Sensex gainers on Thursday were: Lupin up 3.87 per cent at Rs 991.75; Sun Pharma up 3.10 per cent at Rs 483.30; Dr. Reddy s Lab up 2.88 per cent at Rs 2 087.90; Cipla up 2.47 per cent at Rs 573.40; and Infosys up 2.01 per cent at Rs 912.50.
Major Sensex losers were: Adani Ports down 1.32 per cent at Rs 379.95; Bajaj Auto down 1.04 per cent at Rs 2 731.85; Reliance Industries down 0.88 per cent at Rs 1 567.40; HDFC down 0.73 per cent at Rs 1 750; and Hindustan Unilever down 0.72 per cent at Rs 1 178.95.
The Indian equity markets will remain closed on Friday on account of Ganesh Chaturthi.
--IANS
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