India’s stock benchmarks remained little changed, as gains in realty, consumer durables and pharma stocks were offset by the losses in energy and auto stocks ahead of the monthly F&O expiry.
The S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.1% to 59,469.27. The NSE Nifty 50 also traded largely unchanged at 17,700.15. Housing Development Finance Corp. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing nearly 1%. Bajaj Finance Ltd. had the largest increase, rising 1.2%. In midday trading, 19 of 50 shares rose, while 31 fell.
The broader indices almost outperformed their larger peers with the S&P BSE MidCap gaining over 0.4% and S&P BSE SmallCap adding 0.7%. Ten of the 19 sectoral indices compiled by the BSE Ltd. declined, with S&P BSE Auto index shedding 0.5%. On the flipside, S&P BSE Realty and S&P BSE Cosnumer Durables indexes rose over 1%
The market breadth was skewed in favour of bulls. About 1,896 stocks advanced, 1,212 declined and 171 remained unchanged.
