SENSEX, NIFTY50 end on a flat note; ICICI Bank Power Grid gain, Infosys, Maruti Suzuki fall

The Indian equity benchmarks rose for a second straight session on Friday, August 21, but ended on a flat note.

Gains in index heavyweights like ICICI Bank, Power Grid, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Larsen & Toubro and Bharat Electronics were offset by losses in Infosys, Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever and HCL Technologies.

The SENSEX traded in a band of 280 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday high of 24,284 and a low of 24,206.

The SENSEX ended three points higher at 77,540.83 and NIFTY50 index advanced 20 points to close at 24,252.

Asian markets ended mixed. China's Shanghai Composite index rose 0.04%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 1.21%, South Korea's KOSPI gained 0.9% while Japan's Nikkei fell 0.36%.

Back home, nine of 15 major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) ended higher led by the NIFTY Metal index's nearly 1% gain. NIFTY Bank, Financial Services, Private Bank, Realty and Consumer Durable indices also rose between 0.2% and 0.5%.

On the other hand, auto, FMCG, IT, media, pharma and healthcare shares faced selling pressure.

Broader markets ended mixed as NIFTY Midcap 100 index rose 0.1% while NIFTY Smallcap 100 index climbed 0.7%.

Among the individual shares, JBM Auto rose as much as 9.89% to hit an intraday high of ₹685 after a report by The Economic Times suggested that Bain Capital will buy a significant minority stake in the electric vehicle manufacturing unit of JBM Auto. People familiar with the matter told ET that this will provide growth capital support to the company and accelerate its efforts to transform from a traditional auto parts maker to a fully fledged clean energy mobility platform.

The US-based PE firm is looking to invest up to ₹2,850 crore in the JBM unit, though negotiations are underway to finalise the size of the stake and deal structure, the report said.

Welspun Corp shares advanced as much as 17% to hit an intraday high of ₹2,349 after the company said that it secured its biggest order.

The company, in its filing to exchanges, said it has secured the largest single order in its history — valued at approximately $1.8 billion (₹17,200 Crore) — for the supply of pipes from its manufacturing facility in the United States of America.

“This record-breaking order is the single largest ever awarded to the Company and marks a defining milestone in its global growth trajectory, reaffirming its leadership position as a trusted, large-scale partner to the global energy and infrastructure sector,” the company said.

Power Grid was top gainer in the NIFTY50 index, the stock rose 2.9% to close at ₹272.

HDFC Life, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Nestle India, Bharat Electronics, Bajaj Finserv, NTPC, Coal India and SBI Life also rose between 0.6% and 2.4%.

On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki, Trent, HCL Technologies, IndiGo, ONGC, ITC, Infosys, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors PV, Tata Consumer Products and Hindustan Unilever were top losers in the NIFTY50 index.

The overall market breadth was marginally positive as 1,885 shares ended higher while 1,634 closed lower on the NSE.