Indian stocks pared morning losses to end flat on Wednesday as losses in index heavyweights like Infosys, L&T and RIL were capped by gains in TCS, ICICI Bank, and Bharti Airtel.

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However, sentiment remained weak as the rupee fell and oil prices rose after tensions in the Middle East escalated as Iran fired missiles at an Iraqi air base that hosts US military forces, in retaliation for the US strike killing an Iranian commander last week. Other Asian shares also tumbled while gold shot higher post the development.

The Sensex ended 52 points lower at 40,818, while the Nifty settled 27 points lower at 12,025. Broader indices were mixed during the day with Nifty Midcap rising 0.3 percent and Nifty Smallcap declining 0.3 percent.

Among stocks, Bharti Airtel, Yes Bank, TCS, UltraTch Cement, and Bajaj Finance were the top gainers on the Nifty50 index, while Eicher Motors, Coal India, IOC, L&T, and ONGC led the losses.

Sectoral indices were mixed during the day. Major selling was seen in auto, metal, PSU banks and pharma indices. Nifty Auto fell the most, down 0.75 percent, followed by Nifty Metals and Nifty PSU Bank, down 0.6 percent each. Meanwhile, Nifty Pharma and Nifty Realty also declined by 0.5 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively. Among gainers, Nifty IT rose 0.4 percent on the weak rupee and Nifty FMCG was up 0.11 percent.

Oil & gas stock like IOC, ONGC, RIL declined 0.7-2 percent as crude prices rose post as tensions in the Middle East escalated.

Suzlon Energy plunged 10 percent after the company defaulted on loan repayments. The defaults included payment of interest and repayment of principal amount on loans from banks and financial institutions worth Rs 7,256.38 crore.

First Published:Jan 8, 2020 3:30 PM IST