Indian markets pare initial gains and close flat

Benchmark indices – NIFTY50 (-0.02%) and SENSEX (-0.02%) – pared initial gains and closed marginally lower today. Gains in index heavyweights like Reliance Industries, Larsen & Toubro and Titan supported the index.

The market breadth was weak today. Out of the NIFTY50 universe, 30 stocks declined. And, India VIX, which is a measure of volatility in the domestic markets, declined for the third consecutive day.

On the sectoral front, Media (+1.3%) and Realty (+0.8%) were the top gainers. On the other hand, PSU Bank (-1.1%) and Oil & Gas (-0.5%) were the top losers.

The broader markets outperformed the benchmark indices. The NIFTY Smallcap 100 index was up 0.3% today. The NIFTY Midcap Index closed 0.2% higher.

Meanwhile, US chip designer Nvidia’s shares soared 16% on Thursday. This rally also rubbed off on the domestic semiconductor and AI-related stocks. Happiest Mind, Persistent Mind and SPEL Semiconductor were up in the range of 1% to 5% today.