Equity indices close flat, Adani Ports top gainer

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Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], Apr 6 : Equity benchmark indices wiped out early gains but closed at flat levels as worries about rising coronavirus cases and extension of lockdown restrictions weighed on investor sentiment.
At the closing bell, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 42 points or 0.09 per cent at 49,201 while the Nifty 50 ticked up by 46 points or 0.31 per cent to 14,684.
Sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were mixed with Nifty pharma up by 1.7 per cent, metal by 1.3 per cent and realty by 1 per cent. But banks and financials closed in the red.
Among stocks, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) surged 14.5 per cent to Rs 849.85 per share after the company reported a 41 per cent year-on-year jump in cargo volume business at 26 million metric tonnes in March.
Tata Consumer Products was up by 4.8 per cent to Rs 675.95 per share. Asian Paints gained by 3.9 per cent while pharma giants Cipla and Sun Pharma edged higher by 2 per cent and 1.7 per cent respectively.
JSW Steel, SBI Life, HDFC Life and UPL traded with a positive bias. However, banking names like IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and State Bank of India were in the red along with Grasim and HCL Technologies.
Meanwhile, Asia's stock markets were mixed despite another batch of strong US economic data bolstered the global outlook.
Tokyo's Nikkei was down by 1.3 per cent but Hong Kong's Hang Seng moved up by 1.97 per cent. South Korea's Kospi ticked up by 0.2 per cent.