Indian benchmark indices settled flat on Friday after a choppy trading session. BSE Sensex was slightly up, while Nifty 50 index showed marginal change at the end of session amid the absence of major cues. Buying in IT and FMCG blue chips countered selling in realty, metal and auto stocks. For the day, the-30 share pack BSE Sesnex added merely 22.71 points, 0.04 per cent, to end the week at 59,655.06, while NSE's Nifty50 settled flat, just 0.40 points up to 17,624.05. Broader markets underperformed the headline peers as the BSE midcap and smallcap index settled in red. Fead gauge India VIS dropped about 3 per cent to 11.63-levels. Markets remained in a consolidation mood and ended almost unchanged, in absence of any major trigger. After the flat start, Nifty drifted gradually lower however recovery in select heavyweights in the latter half pared all the losses. Consequently, it managed to hold 17,600+ for yet another session, said Ajit Mishra, VP - Technical Research, Religare Broking. "Participants will react to Reliance and ICICI Bank numbers in early trades on Monday and that might provide the needed trigger. Needless to say, it’s critical for Nifty to hold the 17,400-17,500 zone to maintain the positive bias otherwise the recovery would derail," he added. On a sectoral front, Nifty Realty Index dropped more than 2 per cent, followed by Nifty Metal and Auto indices, which shed a per cent each. PSU Bank index was also among the top laggards. On the other hand, the Nifty media index rose more than a per cent, followed by Nifty FMCG and IT indices. In the Nifty50 pack, IT surged, topped the gainers with a 2 per cent high, and settled near its record highs. Tata Consultancy Services and Britannia also rallied 2 per cent each. Wipro, Cipla, Asian Paints and HCL Technologies were also among the top gainers for the session. Among the losers, HDFC Life Insurance dropped over 3 per cent, followed by a 2 per cent fall in Tech Mahindra and Adani Enterprises each. SBI Life Insurance, Tata Steel, Maruti Suzuki, Hindalco and Grasim were also among the top losers. A total of 3,599 shares were traded on BSE on Friday, of which 1,915 settled lower. 1,549 stocks ended the session with gains, while 135 shares remained unchanged. A total of 199 shares hit their upper circuit, whereas 130 tested the lower circuit levels for the day. 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 US have raised fears of a possible recession, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. "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," he said. In the broader markets, Dish TV rose over 14 per cent thanks to heavy trading volumes. Heranba Industries soared about 11 per cent after the company received six CIB registrations. Vodafone Idea jumped more than 6 per cent after KM Birla was back in the company board. On the other hand, DB Realty dropped over 11 per cent after exchanges sought clarification from the company over price movement. Radhe Developers (India) dropped 8 per cent and Rajratan Global Wire was down 5 per cent after Q4 earnings announcements. Brightcom Group hit lower circuit of 5 per cent for fifth session to test its new 52-low.
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