RIL drags market lower, Nifty ends flat

The Indian markets closed flat today with the BSE Sensex falling 0.07 percent and the 50-share Nifty closing flat at 5688 percent in choppy trade.

The weakness in oil & gas segment, especially RIL, dragged the markets lower in the very early trade, however there was an immediate recovery supported by the rate sensitives’ on hopes of rate cuts by the RBI in its upcoming policy review on 3 May.

Reliance Industries’ shares fell 2.8 percent after its revenue growth for the January-March quarter missed analyst estimates while profits were broadly in line.

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Tech shares fell tracking the rupee’s appreciation and on worries that a proposed US Senate immigration bill may lead to outsourcing firms paying higher fees and wages to H-1B visa workers.

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Infosys fell 1 percent, while Tata Consultancy Services was down 1.4 percent.

However, shares in HCL Technologies gained 1.8 percent after its January-March net profit beat analysts’ estimates.

Other two important result announcements of Yes bank and Puravankara Projects, not only came better than expected but the stocks too were able to hold their gains and Yes Bank closed higher by over 2 percent, while Purvankara surged by around 5 percent.

There was some buzz in the infra sector too on reports that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is targeting national highway contract awards worth about Rs 90,000 crore spanning 7,300 km this fiscal.

Sectorially, the defensive FMCG sector was the top gainer closely followed by rate sensitive auto. Healthcare, metal realty and banking too added considerable gains, while the oil and gas was the laggard along with IT, technology and power sector.

The broader indices outperformed the benchmarks despite paring some of their gains in the final hours.