Sensex, Nifty open flat

Thursday,   25-Apr-2019   09:51 AM (IST)

Benchmark indices opened flat on Thursday after the previous day's huge run up. At 9:30 AM, the BSE Sensex had inched almost 50 points north to hover around 39,100 levels, with YES Bank, Powergrid, Larsen & Toubro, HCL Tech and HDFC Bank among the top gainers. Maruti Suzuki was trading almost 0.8 per cent lower ahead of the FY19Q4 results later in the day. Nifty, too traded flat with a gain of 17 points, or 0.14 per cent, at 11,743.  Most sectoral indices were trading in the green with the Nifty Realty index being the top gainer, up 0.85 per cent, while the Nifty Private Bank index was up 0.45 per cent. In broader market, the S&P BSE Midcap index was trading almost 60 points, or 0.39 per cent, up around 15,277, while the S&P BSE Smallcap index had gained 76 points, or 0.51 per cent to trade at 14,922. The rupee on Thursday slipped four paise to touch the crucial psychological level of 70 against the US dollar. The domestic currency on Wednesday declined by 24 paise to close at 69.86, weighed down by a strong dollar sentiment and high demand for the greenback from importers. Asian shares dipped during early trade on Thursday after a surprise deterioration in German business morale triggered fears of slowing global growth. Bank of Japan (BOJ) is also scheduled to announce its interest rate (monetary policy) decision today. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.2 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei average edged up 0.3 per cent to 22,264.81 points. During the overnight trade, US indices shrugged off some earnings’ misses but drifted lower at the end of the session. While Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 59.3 points lower at 26,597.05 level, S&P500 slipped 6.43 points to close at 2,927.25 level. Nasdaq, too, lost 18.81 points to end at 8,102.02 level.