Market Wrap, Oct 23: Indices slip from day’s high, NIFTY50 flat at 25,891, SENSEX up 130 pts; Infosys leads gain, VIX rises 4%

Indian equity benchmark indices pared early gains to end nearly flat on Thursday, October 23, slipping from the day’s highs despite a strong rally in IT stocks.

Heavyweight stocks like Reliance Industries (RIL) slipped almost 3% from its day's high, weighing on the indices. US sanctions against two of Russia's largest oil companies are expected to impact Reliance Industries' crude imports from Russia, while state-run refiners may continue purchases through intermediary traders for now.

The investors, however, remain optimistic, as a report suggested that India and the United States are nearing the conclusion of a long-pending bilateral trade agreement that could lower tariffs on Indian exports to around 15–16% from the current effective rate of about 50%.

According to exchange data, on Tuesday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased shares worth ₹96.72 crore, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold equities worth ₹607.01 crore on a net basis.

Globally, Asian stocks closed mixed amid renewed trade tariff tensions, while crude prices jumped more than $2 per barrel after US President Donald Trump announced sanctions on Russian oil giants.

Japan's Nikkei slipped 1.31%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.51%, South Korea's KOSPI fell 0.99%, and the Shanghai Composite gained 0.22%.

On Wall Street, major indices fell on Wednesday as fresh moves from Washington deepened investor concerns over US-China trade ties.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 334.33 points, or 0.71%, lower at 46,590.41; the S&P 500 fell 0.53% to end at 6,699.40, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.93% to settle at 22,740.40.

Here are the key developments of Thursday's session that you need to know

As many as 3,202 stocks traded on the NSE on Thursday. Out of this, 1,308 advanced and 1,802 stocks declined, while 92 scrips remained unchanged.

This indicated that the market breadth was in favour of declines.

A total of 121 stocks hit their 52-week highs, while 32 stocks touched their one-year lows. Besides, 85 stocks hit their upper circuit limits, and 42 touched their lower circuit bands on Thursday.

The market capitalisation of NSE-listed firms stood at ₹467.74 lakh crore at the close of the session.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, stood at 11.73 levels, rising 3.85%.

The broader markets ended slightly lower, with the Nifty Smallcap 100 index dipping 0.05% to close at 18,291.45, while the Nifty Midcap 100 index slipped 0.06% to settle at 59,371.25.

On the NIFTY50, 28 stocks ended in the green, while 22 declined on Thursday.

Infosys shares were the biggest contributor, soaring 3.57%, followed by HCL Technologies (2.62%), TCS (2.11%), Shriram Finance (1.98%) and ONGC (1.56%).

On the flip side, Eternal (-2.99%), InterGlobe Aviation (-2.09%), UltraTech Cement (-1.86%), Eicher Motors (-1.77%) and Bharti Airtel (-1.64%) were the biggest losers on the 50-share index.

Nifty IT soared 2.21%, taking the lead among sectors, followed by Nifty Private Bank (0.49%), Nifty Media (0.31%), Nifty FMCG (0.29%) and Nifty PSU Bank (0.28%).

Meanwhile, Nifty Oil and Gas (-0.57%), Nifty Pharma (-0.15%), Nifty Auto (-0.04%) and Nifty Consumer Durables (-0.03%) were the only laggards.