Sensex increased marginally by 23 points on Thursday.
The BSE benchmark Sensex snapped its 3-day losing streak by recovering 23 points to close at 30,857.32 on short-covering from operators on June series F&O expiry coupled with caution ahead of GST rollout.
The gauge, after a strong opening, quickly reclaimed the 31,000-mark to hit a high of 31,097.92 as investors cheered the Cabinet's decision to okay disinvestment of the loss making Air India -- an indication that the government will stay on course of reforms.
The Sensex had lost 456.42 points in three straight sessions. The 50-share Nifty opened higher today, at 9,522.95, and traded in the range of 9,493.80-9,575.80, before closing at 9,504.10, up 12.85 points, or 0.14%, from yesterday's close.
Markets regulator Sebi's proposal to relax entry norms for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) willing to invest directly in Indian stock markets also went down well with investors. However, offloading of positions following expiry of June series in the derivatives segment led the index to a low of 30,794.61, before it finally ended 23.20 points, or 0.08 per higher, at 30,857.52.
"Market failed to sustain the initial acceleration supported by short covering on the day of expiry. The wary investors started booking profit with an expectation of consolidation in the market as the transition to GST may cause
disruptions in the coming quarters, Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services Ltd said.
Global cues were higher with other Asian markets rebounding and European shares remaining mixed in their late morning deals, reflecting overnight gains on the US markets, which influenced sentiments here. Sector-wise, the BSE metal index gained the most, rising 2.15%, followed by realty (1.01%), FMCG (0.73%), teck (0.27%), capital goods (0.20%) and power (0.20%).
However, healthcare, banking, PSU and auto indices remained in negative zone, falling by up to 0.09%. The broader markets too were in better shape as the small-cap index rose 0.98% and mid-cap index 0.34% after investors widened their positions. Domestic Institutional Inverstors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 168.97 crore, while Foreign portfolio investors sold shares worth Rs 469.09 crore yesterdy, as per provisional data from stock exchanges.
In the Sensex kitty, major gainers were Axis Bank (3.48%), Tata Steel (2.85%), Cipla (1.43%), Bharti Airtel (1.39%), ITC (1.05%), ICICI Bank 0.95%), Hero MotoCorp (0.85%), Wipro (0.66%) and Infosys (0.55%). However, Kotak Bank lost 1.95%, Tata Motors, 1.40%, SBI 1.39%, Sun Pharma 1.23%, Lupin 0.80%, TCS 0.70%, Asian Paint 0.49%,Dr Reddy's 0,.42% and Reliance Industries 0.40%.
Markets closed with marginal gains amid volatility as traders rolled over positions in the futures & options (F&O) segment from the near month June 2017 series to July 2017. On the macro front, the implementation of landmark tax reform Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be closely watched. Globally, Asian markets mostly ended higher with Hong Kong's Hang Seng rising 1.10%, Japan's Nikkei going up0.45% and Shanghai Composite Index jumping 0.47%. European markets were largely mixed with Paris and Frankfurt stock exchanges trading lower whereas London was up in early deals.
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