Sensex, Nifty flat in trade, oil and gas stocks fall as oil prices rise

The BSE Sensex was flat in early trade on Wednesday, tracking weak global cues after President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the landmark Iran nuclear deal, fanning fears of an escalation in geopolitical tensions.

Crude oil prices zoomed past $76 per barrel mark amid foreign capital outflows and depreciating rupee.

Asian shares ticked down as renewed US sanctions on Tehran were seen as disruptive for oil supplies.

The BSE Sensex was trading 0.03% or 9.49 points lower at 35,206.83, while the NSE Nifty too was rangebound, trading 0.04% or 4.15 points lower at 10,713.65 AT 10.18 am. Sectoral indices led by oil and gas, PSU, banking, realty, auto, capital goods and power declined by up to 1.12%.

The BSE Sensex had gained 300.94 points in the previous two sessions.

The laggards were ICICI Bank, HDFC, SBI, Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel and Adani Ports, falling up to 1.46 per cent.

However, IT stocks spurted after the rupee depreciated against the dollar. TCS rose 0.86%, Infosys 0.59% and Wipro 0.06%.

Meanwhile, on a net basis, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 97.15 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares to the tune of Rs 923.25 crore in yesterday’s trade, provisional data showed.

Among other Asian markets, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.04%, while Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.16% in early trade. Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.43%.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average, however, edged up 0.01% in Tuesday’s trade.