Benchmark indexes closed the session flat post a lacklustre session on Thursday. By the closing, Sensex was down ~5.43 points or 0.01% to end at 66,017.81, with Nifty declining ~9.80 points or ~0.05% at 19,802. While healthcare index saw a fall of ~1% and IT index declined ~0.5%, the realty and oil & gas indices went up by ~1% each. BSE midcap index closed the session with slight gains, while the small-cap index went up by ~0.4%. While Sensex and Nifty end flat, share price of Mamaearth parent company Honasa Consumer saw an increase of ~20% and the shares were locked at upper circuit after the company announced ~94% growth in net profit in the quarter ended September.
Sulzon’s stock, which had been falling for the past 3 consecutive days, also went up by ~5% on Thursday. On the other hand, Cipla’s shares declined by ~7% after it was announced that the US Food and Drug Administration gave a warning letter to its Madhya Pradesh unit. Coming to the top movers, Asian Paints topped the charts among Sensex 30 shares, and was followed by Wipro, Nestle India and JSW Steel.
Despite of the fact that Sensex and Nifty end flat, the BSE MidCap index went up by ~0.4%, while the SmallCap index increased by ~0.6%.
Asian shares ended on a flat note on Thursday because markets wanted to hold onto the gains which it saw this week, exhibiting increased confidence that interest rates globally will get lower starting next year. Japanese markets were closed because of the holiday.
Elsewhere, in the commodities market, oil prices saw a decline on the expectations about the smaller-than-anticipated output cuts by OPEC+. Currency-wise, the Indian rupee was also flat at 83.34 per dollar as compared to the previous close of 83.32. Indian rupee was down later in the day and got depreciated as demand from the importers increased and it saw selling pressure from foreign investors. However, the softness in the US dollar and fall in crude oil prices limited the downside in the Indian rupee.
Economic data released by the United States on Wednesday was better in comparison to the anticipations, raising the confidence that US Fed might end its rate hiking campaign.
The US stock market investors will see lower trading volumes this week as markets were closed on Thursday, November 23 due to Thanksgiving. The bond markets were also closed due to the Thanksgiving Day. There will be half-day trading in the US markets on November 24, 2023.
Read Also:
- Lower oil prices and jobless claims: Wall Street closes higher ahead of Thanksgiving
- A look at Bill Gates investment portfolio- November 2023
- Big events for the next week: What investors should focus on to rebalance their portfolios
- Fight over inflation is over! Or not? Well, markets have a story to tell!