Sensex, Nifty end flat as 2020 winds up
Dec 31, 2020
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], Dec 31 : Equity benchmark indices swung between gains and losses but ended flat as the year-end trading wound up on Thursday.
Foreign inflows remained dull and banking stocks witnessed muted movements.
The BSE S&P Sensex closed 5 points or 0.01 per cent at 47,751 while the Nifty 50 remained virtually unmoved from its previous close at 13,982.
Sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were mixed with Nifty pharma and metal moving up by 0.7 per cent each. Nifty realty gained by 1.2 per cent but Nifty FMCG lost by 0.4 per cent and IT by 0.3 per cent.
Among stocks, Bharti Airtel fell by 1.3 per cent to Rs 509.50 per share after Reliance Jio Infocomm said it will make domestic calls free from January 1 as interconnect usage charges on such services end.
IT majors Tata Consultancy Services and Tech Mahindra fell by 1.5 per cent and 0.9 per cent respectively while private lenders Kotak Mahindra Bank and Axis Bank dropped by 1.1 per cent and 0.9 per cent.
However, those which gained marginally included HDFC, ICICI Bank, HCL Technologies, Infosys, Maruti Suzuki, Sun Pharma and Dr Reddy's.
Market experts said key equity indices logged their highest annual gains in the year gone by since 2017 and ended with double digit gains for second straight year.
Meanwhile, Asian shares edged up and were set to end a tumultuous 2020 at record highs while investors hoped for a global economic recovery.
The Shanghai Composite index rose by 0.99 per cent after official data showed that activity in China's service and factory sector expanded in December.
The Hong Kong benchmark also rose by 0.66 per cent. Markets in Japan and South Korea were on holiday.
