Sensex closed 10 points lower at 34,431 while Nifty settled at 10,380, down 6 points from previous close.Domestic stock markets finished a choppy session on Thursday largely unchanged, despite easing of concerns about the central bank's autonomy and strong global cues.
The Sensex closed 10 points lower at 34,431 while the Nifty settled at 10,380, down 6points from the previous close.The markets swung between gains and losses, with the Sensex rising as much as 0.7 per cent during the session, before giving up nearly all of those advances by the end of the day.
Advances in banking, metal and infrastructure shares were offset by sharp losses in IT stocks.Top laggards on the 50-scrip Nifty index were HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Infosys and Cipla, closing between 2 per cent and 3.8 per cent lower.On the other hand, the Nifty IT fell 2.1 per cent.
The rupee edged higher against the dollar to touch 73.84 at the day's highest point.On the other hand, the Nifty Metal finished up 1.3 per cent.
Among top gainers on the sectoral NSE index, Hindalco and SAIL finished 4.9 per cent and 4.3 per cent higher respectively.In terms of stock-specific action, Larsen Toubro shares rose 2.6 per cent, a day after theindustrial conglomerate reported a 22.6 per cent jump in net profit to Rs 2,230 crore for the July-September period.Easing of concerns around the rift between the government and the RBI, after the Finance Ministry said the autonomy for the central bank was an "essential and accepted" governance requirement, lifted the rupee.
Selling of the dollar by importers and weakness in the greenback overseas also provided support to the rupee.Domestic markets declined around 5 per cent in October, weighed down by a range of issues, including liquidity concerns and a public spat between the country's government and the central bank.
On Wednesday, the Nifty registered its worst monthly fall since February 2016.