Indian markets settled the choppy session flat on Wednesday ahead of F&O expiry. At the close, the benchmark 30-share index, BSE Sensex added 33.25 points or 0.12% at 27,564.66 with 16 components posting rise. while the broad based NSE Nifty closed flat with a decline of 4.75 points or 0.06%, at 8,334.60.25 components registering drop.
Jayant Manglik, President-retail distribution, Religare Securities said, 'Due to F&O expiry, we shall be seeing excessive volatility across the board on Thursday so traders are advised to uphold strict risk management rules. Needless to say, any rebound in index would attract selling pressure so select your trading bets accordingly. Among sectoral indices, metal, PSU banks and realty are the weakest so one can choose stocks from these sectors for fresh short positions.'
Major gainers in the 30-share index were Bharat Heavy Electricals (3.34%), Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (2.70%), Axis Bank (2.26%), Coal India (2.11%), Bharti Airtel (1.91%), and NTPC (1.66%).
On the other hand, Tata Motors (5.12%), Mahindra & Mahindra (3.05%), Infosys (2%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (1.97%), G A I L (India) (1.84%), and Vedanta (1.69%) were the biggest losers in the Sensex.
The Bankex index was at 21,312.56, up by 251.06 points or by 1.19%. The Oil & Gas index was at 9,502.14, up by 90.88 points or by 0.97%. On the other hand, the Auto index was at 18,669.26, down by 402.75 points or by 2.11%.
Market breadth was negative with 1,124 advances against 1,366 declines.