Equity gauges flat after volatile session, metals surge

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], Aug 11 : Equity benchmark indices ended at flat levels on Wednesday despite stable global cues as the US Senate approved a 3.5 trillion dollar spending blueprint for President Joe Biden's top priorities.
Metal and energy stocks, however, witnessed handsome gains while the losses were spread across sectors.
At the closing bell, the BSE S&P Sensex was down by 29 points or 0.05 per cent at 54,526 while the Nifty 50 ticked up by 2 points or 0.01 per cent to 16,282.
Nifty metal rose by 3.1 per cent, PSU bank by 0.5 per cent and realty by 0.3 per cent. All other sectoral indices were in the red with Nifty pharma down by 1.4 per cent, private bank and financial service by 0.6 per cent each, and FMCG by 0.3 per cent.
Among stocks, Kotak Mahindra Bank slipped by 1.8 per cent to close at Rs 1,778.60 per share while ICICI Bank was down by 1 per cent and HDFC Bank by 0.8 per cent.
Sun Pharma lost by 1.8 per cent, Tata Consumer Products by 0.9 per cent, Mahindra & Mahindra by 0.8 per cent and Nestle India by 0.7 per cent.
However, metal stocks surged with Tata Steel registering a gain of 4 per cent at Rs 1,428.50 per share. JSW Steel rose by 3.5 per cent and Hindalco by 2.2 per cent.
Meanwhile, Asian stocks were mixed with Japan's Nikkei up 0.65 per cent on corporate earnings and rising US yields.
Hong Kong shares rose by 0.2 per cent as developers gained but South Korea's Kospi dropped by 0.7 per cent on virus anxiety.