Sensex, Nifty end flat on muted global cues
Domestic equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty ended flat on Friday as muted cues from global markets and spiking COVID-19 cases in the country kept investors on the edge. After touching a low of 37,787.38 during the day, the BSE Sensex settled just 15.12 points or 0.04 per cent higher at 38,040.57.
Similarly, the NSE Nifty rose 13.90 points or 0.12 per cent to finish at 11,214.05.
Asian Paints was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, spurting over 4 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, IndusInd Bank and Maruti.
On the other hand, Titan, HCL Tech, Infosys, Sun Pharma and M&M were among the laggards.
According to traders, market sentiment turned choppy tracking weak cues from global indices amid reports that the Trump administration was considering a proposal to crackdown on Chinese companies listed in the US.
Spiking COVID-19 cases too kept investors jittery, they said.
Registering over 60,000 cases in 24 hours for the first time, India's COVID-19 tally galloped past 20 lakh on Friday.
The number of cases around the world linked to the disease has crossed 1.9 crore.
Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo ended in the red, while Seoul finished with gains.
Stock exchanges in Europe were trading on a negative note in early deals.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.86 per cent lower at USD 44.70 per barrel.
On the currency front, the rupee ended almost flat at 74.93 against the US dollar.
