Bourses recover severe drubbing; Sensex rises over 33 points, IT stocks stand tall

Rupee appreciates by 5 paise to close at 76.35 against the US dollar

MUMBAI: Equity indices surrendered early gains to close flat on Thursday as profit-taking took hold amid a rally in global markets, even as the US Federal Reserve hiked rates on expected lines to combat inflation.

Recovering after a severe drubbing in the previous session following the RBI’S surprise rate hike, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex soared almost 900 points in opening trade.

However, the index lost momentum towards the fagend to close just 33.20 points or 0.06 per cent higher at 55,702.23, snapping its threesession losing streak.

On similar lines, the NSE Nifty inched up 5.05 points or 0.03 per cent to finish at 16,682.65.

Tech Mahindra topped the Sensex gainers’ list with a jump of 4.07 per cent, followed by Infosys, HCL Tech, Wipro, Tata

Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank and TCS.

In contrast, Indusind Bank, Nestle, Ultratech Cement, Sun Pharma, Reliance Industries,

Powergrid, Bajaj Finserv and Titan were among the main laggards, losing as much as 4.32 per cent.

In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge dipped 0.32 per cent while the midcap index went down by 0.21 per cent.

The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Services PMI Business Activity Index jumped to 57.9 in April, from 53.6 in March, highlighting a sharp rate of expansion that was the fastest since last November amid mounting price pressures.

International oil benchmark Brent crude gained 0.27 per cent to $110.4 per barrel.

The rupee appreciated by 5 paise to close at 76.35 against the US dollar on Thursday.