Indian equity benchmarks finished a choppy session higher on Thursday, session as gains in financial, metal, oil & gas and healthcare shares outweighed losses in IT stocks. Globally, nervousness set in among investors about the impact of steep hikes in COVID-era interest rates on economic growth, ahead of a policy statement from the ECB.

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NSE

The Sensex gyrated within a more than 450-point range during the session, briefly slipping into the red an hour before the closing bell before settling at 59,756.8 for the day — 260 points above its weakest level of the day. The Nifty50 broadly moved in the 17,650-17,800 band before ending at 17,737.

Volatility persisted as traders scrambled to settle their positions ahead of the expiry of monthly derivative contracts due by the end of the session.

JSW Steel, Hindalco, Tata Steel, Adani Ports and PowerGrid rose the most among the 38 gainers in the Nifty50 basket.

Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel, UPL, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank were some of the other top blue-chip gainers.

Reliance, HDFC, Bharti Airtel and Axis Bank were the biggest boosts for both headline indices.

On the other hand, the Bajaj twins, Asian Paints, Bajaj Auto and Nestle were the top laggards.

Barring the Nifty IT, which closed half a percent lower, all of NSE's sectoral gauges held on to the green.

"Weak signals from global markets and elevated oil prices are restricting the domestic market from maintaining its gains. Disappointing results from US IT giants have served as a catalyst for selling in the US market," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

"Investors are expecting global central banks to slow down the pace of rate hikes, in the future, which could be positive for India in 2023," he said.

Overall market breadth turned from extremely positive to moderately positive in the second half of the monthly F&O expiry day, as 1,836 stocks rose and 1,583 fell at the close on BSE.

The rupee gave up much of its intraday gains to finish at 82.49 against the US dollar.

Global markets

European markets fell as disappointing earnings spoiled the mood across global equities and caution persisted ahead of an expected 75-bp rate hike by the ECB. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index fell as much as half a percent in early hours.

S&P 500 futures edged up 0.1 percent, suggesting a mild start ahead on Wall Street.

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