Nifty, Sensex trade flat as media, IT stocks cap gain; global triggers eyed for direction

Benchmark indices Nifty and Sensex lacked direction, and were trading flat in afternoon trade on March 5. In the absence of any major domestic event, market participants will continue to take cues from the global indices, Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell’s congressional testimony and China’s National People’s Congress.

At 2:08 pm, the Sensex was down 175.28 points or 0.24 percent at 73,697, and the Nifty was down 47.30 points or 0.21 percent at 22,358. About 1,074 shares advanced, 2,217 declined, and 50 were unchanged.

The market capitalisation of all BSE-listed stocks is now within a kissing distance of touching the Rs 40-lakh-crore milestone for the first time.

In the broader market, BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap index fell 0.12 percent and 0.51 percent, respectively.

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In terms of sectors, the Nifty PSU Bank led the gains, surging by more than 2 percent, propelled by notable gains from Central Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, and UCO Bank, which rose by up to 6 percent.

Nifty Auto rose over 1 percent, buoyed by the performance of Tata Motors, Motherson, and TVS Motor Company stocks, which saw increases of up to 2.8 percent.

On the flip side, Nifty Media and Nifty IT indices fell over 1 percent, followed by Nifty FMCG, Metal and Healthcare.

Fundamental view

The market is likely to remain range-bound in the near-term. Weakness in the small cap segment is likely to continue. The Chinese National People’s Congress which has begun will be keenly watched by the markets, said analysts.

"Announcements relating to the initiation of growth stimulating reforms have the potential to attract big money into their stock market, which is now trading at cheap valuations. Therefore, it is important to watch out for developments in China. While there is fundamental support to the Indian stock market, high valuations can constrain further rally," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

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