Mumbai: NSE benchmark Nifty ended flat in a volatile session on Tuesday ahead of expiry of September derivatives contracts amid weak global cues. Realty and metals stocks hogged the limelight.
However, FMCG, media, IT and PSU bank stocks witnessed selling towards the fag-end. Weakness in global stocks amid fresh threats from North Korea weighed on sentiment on the domestic bourses.
Overseas, European stocks were trading mixed. Most Asian stocks dropped taking cues from weak close in US stocks overnight following fresh threats from North Korea.
The Nifty opened higher at 9,875.25 and moved in a range of 9,891.25 and 9,813 before ending at 9,871.50, marginally down 1.10 points, or 0.01 per cent. It saw an intra-day movement of about 78.35 points.
On the sectoral front, FMCG fell 0.43 per cent, Media 0.34 per cent, Infra 0.21 per cent and IT 0.19 per cent. However, Realty rose by 2.69 per cent, Metal 2.40 per cent, Private Bank 0.31 per cent and Bank 0.14 per cent.
Major index losers were BPCL, Bharti Infratel, Tata Power, HUL, Asian Paints, Dr Reddy's, TCS and Tech Mahindra. Gainers were Vedanta, ONGC, Indiabulls Housing Finance, Tata Steel, Axis Bank, Hindalco, Lupin, Bosch Ltd and ICICI Bank.
The broader markets displayed a divergence in their performance compared to the frontline indices as Nifty Midcap and Smallcap indices rose 0.60 per cent and 0.74 per cent, respectively. The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was in favour of gainers.
On the NSE, 1,075 stocks advanced, 601 declined and 80 stocks remained unchanged. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,915.54 crore, as per provisional data released by the stock exchange. Total securities that hit their price bands were 197.
Turnover in the cash segment fell to Rs 26,493.45 crore from Rs 29,598.00 crore on Monday. A total of 11,952.02 lakh shares changed hands in 10,295,992 trades. The market capitalisation of listed firms on the NSE stood at Rs 1,30,81,221.20 crore.
