Indian shares ended flat after a choppy session on Thursday, bogged down by crude hitting a fresh 2019 high, weak rupee and rising wholesale price index (WPI). Oil prices rose on Thursday, with Brent crude hitting its highest since November 2018 amid Opec-led supply cuts and US sanctions on Venezuela and Iran. The sentiment was also affected as the rupee weakened after the central bank announced a dollar-rupee swap auction.

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WPI in February accelerated to 2.93 percent, government data showed on Thursday, pushed by a jump in the prices of food and fuel products, after falling to a 10-month low of 2.76 percent in January.

The S&P BSE Sensex settled at 37,755, up 3 points, while the broader NSE Nifty50 ended at 11,343, adding 1 point. Meanwhile, broader markets were in-line with frontline indices with the Nifty MidCap and Nifty Smallcap also ending on a flat note.

NTPC, IndusInd Bank, Yes Bank, Sun Pharma, and Bharti Airtel were the top gainers on Nifty50 while, HCL Tech, HeroMoto Corp, Ultratech Cements, Tata Motors, and ICICI Banks were the biggest draggers.

Nifty Bank ended off day's high but new record of 28,923, up 0.1 percent. It hit a record high of 29,070, in intraday trade.

IndusInd Bank, Yes Bank, RBL Bank, IDFC First Bank, Bank of Baroda, Kotak Bank and Axis Bank settled in positive for the day.

Among sectors, Nifty Realty surged the most, advancing over 2 percent for the day, followed by Nifty Pharma, Nifty Metal and Nifty Private Banks. Nifty IT, Nifty Auto and Nifty PSU Banks ended in the red.

Globally, Asian shares stumbled after Chinese data signalled further weakness in the world’s second-biggest economy.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.2 percent after treading water for the most part of the day. Japan’s Nikkei gave up early gains to end nearly flat.

Chinese shares were the biggest drag on the index after data showed growth in the country’s industrial output fell to a 17-year low. Shanghai’s SSE Composite index tumbled 1.2 percent, while the blue-chip CSI 300 slipped 0.7 percent.

-With inputs from Reuters

First Published:Mar 14, 2019 4:01 PM IST