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Indian shares ended unchanged on Thursday after a volatile session due to the expiry of monthly derivative contracts, but indexes still posted their best monthly gain in more than four years boosted by big overseas inflows.
The 30-share BSE index Sensex was up 3.28 points or 0.01 per cent at 25,341.86 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was up 3.2 points or 0.04 per cent at 7,738.40.
The NSE index surged 10.75 per cent in March, its best monthly gain since January 2012 and the BSE index gained 10.2 per cent this month.
Among BSE sectoral indices, consumer durables index gained the most by 1.21 per cent, followed by power 0.82 per cent, IT and healthcare 0.66 per cent each. On the other hand, metal index was down 0.77 per cent, followed by PSU 0.69 per cent, oil & gas 0.64 per cent and capital goods 0.18 per cent.
Top five Sensex gainers were TCS (+1.11%), Infosys (+1.01%), Sun Pharma (+0.97%), HUL (+0.79%) and Adani Ports (+0.75%), while the major losers were State Bank of India (-1.65%), Bharti Airtel (-1.53%), Tata Steel (-1.51%), Coal India (-1.5%) and Asian Paints (-1.44%).
Risk appetite
Risk appetite has improved after Yellen had said on Tuesday that the US central bank should proceed cautiously as it looks to hike rates, pushing back against some colleagues who have suggested another move may be just around the corner.
Mirroring the optimism, Asian shares edged up to a four-month high on Thursday, taking cues from Wall Street gains overnight.
March F&O expiry
Trading was however volatile owing to the expiry of monthly derivatives. Rollover of contracts were strong as of mid-afternoon, suggesting investors expect the momentum to continue.
“Nifty rollover is quite strong, indicating that the market is looking for positive surprises going forward,” said Sahaj Agrawal, deputy vice president of derivatives at Kotak Securities.
“Even rollover cost has risen as traders are looking at carrying forward long bets, which broadly indicates that market participants, largely foreign investors, are positive and upside trend is likely to continue.”
World stocks fell for the first time in four days on Thursday as a roller-coaster quarter drew to a close after hammering the dollar and the pound but boosting gold and bonds.
Asian shares edged up to a four-month high on Thursday, taking cues from Wall Street gains overnight, as receding worries of near-term US. interest rate hikes continued to buoy the risk sentiment.
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