Indian benchmark equity indices, the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50, traded flat in volatile trade around noon on Thursday. Trade sentiment turned cautious with a negative bias as investors booked profit amid weak global cues, offsetting the feel-good factor from the Cabinet nod on PSU divestment plan and the government's decision to grant a 2-year moratorium for spectrum payment.
At 12.24 pm, the 30-share benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 40,647, down 4 points. The Nifty also traded mildly lower by 3.5 points at 11,995. In the last seven days, the Sensex has risen almost a percent or by 380 points, while the Nifty has garnered over a percent, rising over 130 points.
Broader market indices also traded flat but sectoral indices were mixed. The Nifty MidCap 100 index slipped 0.13 percent, while the BSE MidCap 100 also edged lower.
The Nifty Media rose 4 percent led largely by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. Bank, auto, financial service, IT, PSU bank and private bank shares traded in the green but mostly with modest gains. FMCG, metal, pharma and realty indices declined.
Among gainers, Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) shares jumped 15 percent on Thursday after promoter Essel Group sold a 15.72 percent shares via block trades to meet debt obligations.
Adani Ports, Eicher Motors, L&T and ICICI Bank were other major gainers, rising between 1 and 2 percent. Bharti Airtel, Coal India, GAIL, Tata Steel and Yes Bank dipped between 1 and 3 percent.
Shares of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL) fell over 3 percent on Thursday after the government announced a strategic sale of its 53.29 percent stake in the refiner after taking out Numaligarh refinery from its portfolio. In the opening trade, BPCL shares hit a fresh 52-week high of Rs 549.70 per share on the BSE, rising 0.9 percent from its previous close.
Telecom stocks turned negative after opening higher on Thursday despite Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announcing the previous day that the government has decided to grant a 2-year moratorium for telecom companies to pay their spectrum dues.
Shares of Jubilant Life Sciences surged 6 percent in intraday trade on Thursday after China on Wednesday terminated its six-year-long anti-dumping measures on pyridine imports from India and Japan.
In the currency markets, the Indian rupee traded at 71.83 against the US dollar at 12.38 pm.
Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 566.52 crore in the capital market in Wednesday's session, while domestic institutional investors purchased equities worth Rs 183.41 crore, PTI reported.
Elsewhere in Asia, reports of a delay in the US-China trade deal dampened investor sentiment. Hang Seng slid almost 1.5 percent, while Taiwan Weighted slipped 0.63 percent. Japan's Nikkei was down 0.89 percent.
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