Indian shares pared gains in the final hour of trading to ended flat on Friday as gains in banking and telecom stocks were capped by losses in IT, auto and FMCG stocks.

Share Market Live

NSE

Meanwhile, the global sentiment was positive as risk appetite was whetted by a comment from a senior US official that the United States and China are getting close to an interim trade pact.

That helped to lift MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rise 0.6 percent, Japan’s Nikkei 0.76 percent and Australian shares by 0.8 percent.

The Sensex ended 70 points higher at 40,357, while the broader Nifty50 index added 23 points to settle at 11,895. The Nifty Midcap rose 0.3 percent, while the Nifty Smallcap index fell 0.2 percent.

For the week, the benchmark indices were flat with the Sensex up 0.1 percent, while the Nifty down 0.1 percent.

Major buying was seen in fin services, pharma and banking sectors. The Nifty PSU index rose the most, up 3.5 percent, followed by the Nifty Pharma, up 1.6 percent. Meanwhile, the Nifty Bank advanced 0.9 percent and the Nifty Fin Services jumped 0.6 percent. However, among losers, the Nifty IT, the Nifty Auto and the Nifty FMCG lost 0.5 percent each and the Nifty Metal slipped 0.4 percent.

Among stocks, Bharti Infratel, Bharti Airtel, SBI, Zee and Grasim were the top gainers on the Nifty50, while IOC, Hero MotoCorp, BPCL, Maruti Suzuki and Vedanta led the losses.

Telecom stocks saw the traction after sourced told CNBC-TV18 that the committee of secretaries (CoS) is mulling setting a minimum price for mobile calls and data. This move will be beneficial for incumbents like Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel who reported a combined loss of Rs 74,000 crore for its second quarter. The BSE Telecom index rose 7 percent with Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel and Bharti Infratel surging 26 percent, 9.5 percent and 9.5 percent, respectively.

PSU banks also rallied after the Supreme Court delivered its verdict in the Essar Steel case. The apex court has set aside the NCLAT judgment, saying the ultimate discretion on distribution of funds is with the Committee of Creditors (CoC) which is completely favourable to lenders.

In the PSU Bank index, Central Bank of India, SBI, Bank of India, Syndicate Bank, Canara Bank and PNB rose between 2.5-9 percent.

Meanwhile, Fortis Healthcare shares tank over 8.5 percent after Supreme Court holds Singh brothers, Fortis Healthcare guilty of contempt. The apex court said Malvinder and Shivinder Singh can 'purge' contempt by depositing Rs 1,175 crore each.

First Published:Nov 15, 2019 4:05 PM IST