Indian equity benchmarks ended a volatile session with mild gains on Thursday, managing to extend a winning run to the fifth day in a row. Strength in oil & gas and metal shares was countered by weakness in financial and consumer goods stocks. IT stocks remained in focus throughout the session, a day after TCS, Infosys and Wipro reported their quarterly earnings.
The 30-scrip Sensex index ended 85.3 points or 0.1 percent higher at 61,235.3 and the broader Nifty50 benchmark settled at 18,257.8, up 45.5 points or 0.3 percent from its previous close.
Among the top blue-chip gainers were Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Sun Pharma, Coal India, L&T, Divi’s and Cipla, ending between 2.1 percent and 6.3 percent higher.
On the other hand, Wipro, Asian Paints, HCL Tech, HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Maruti Suzuki, finishing between 1.3 percent and six percent lower, were the worst hit among the 14 laggards in the Nifty50 pack.
Infosys, Tata Steel and Larsen & Toubro were the top contributors to the gain in both headline indices. TCS and Infosys rose around one percent each, but Wipro tumbled six percent. The Nifty IT index gave up its intraday gain of 0.7 percent to finish flat. Mindtree rose 2.7 percent, ahead of the IT company’s Q3 earnings announcement due later in the day.
Paytm shares continued to drop for yet another day, settling at a record closing low of Rs 1,028. At this level, the stock is available at a discount of 52.2 percent to its issue price.
European shares began the day with minor losses, snapping a two-day winning streak that was driven by commodity and technology stocks. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was down 0.1 percent in early hours.
S&P 500 futures were flat, indicating a muted start ahead on Wall Street.
