Sensex, Nifty turn range-bound, rising oil, weak rupee halt momentum

The BSE Sensex pared its initial gains to trade range-bound in afternoon trade on Thursday, up 9.24 points amid buying in frontline shares of energy, telecom and technology sectors on the back of higher Asian cues.

Surging crude oil and weak rupee affected the trading momentum.

Profit-booking was witnessed in power, utilities, realty, metal and FMCG counters.

The BSE Sensex was trading 0.04% or 12.60 points higher at 35,331.95 at 12.28 pm. However, the broader NSE Nifty-50 index was trading marginally down by 0.05% or 5.45 at 10,736.25.

Major gainers were ONGC 2.10%, Bharti Airtel 1.76%, Coal India 1.62%, Tata Motors DVR 1.80% and M&M 0.74%. Losers included Power Grid 2.83%, Dr Reddy’s 1.95%, Tata Steel 1.43% and NTPC 1.03%.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 704.03 crore on net basis, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities to the tune of Rs 664.92 crore on Wednesday, provisional data showed.

Asian shares were up, tracking Wall Street’s advance as oil prices traded higher after touching multi-year highs overnight.

In US, the broader stock market rallied as sharp gains in energy, financials and technology stocks propelled the main benchmarks higher.