The Indian stock market ended on a flat note on Thursday, with noticeable selling pressure in the auto and IT sectors. Hindustan Unilever Ltd emerged as one of the top losers, reporting a 4% decline in standalone net profit for Q2, which stood at Rs 2,612 crore.
The Sensex closed at 80,065.16, down 16.82 points or 0.02%. Meanwhile, the Nifty finished at 24,399.40 after dropping 36.10 points or 0.15%. The Nifty Midcap 100 index also saw a decline, closing at 56,349.75, down 183.80 points or 0.33%. The Nifty Smallcap 100 index slipped to 18,249.15, down 37.50 points or 0.20%. Conversely, the Nifty Bank index rose to 51,531.15, gaining 292.15 points or 0.57%.
Sector-wise, selling was prominent in the auto, IT, FMCG, metal, realty, and media sectors. In contrast, buying activity was observed in PSU banks, financial services, pharmaceuticals, energy, private banks, infrastructure, and commodities.
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On the BSE, 1,590 stocks traded in the green, while 2,343 stocks fell into the red, with 100 stocks remaining unchanged.
Top gainers in the Sensex included UltraTech Cement, M&M, Titan, Adani Ports, SBI, Bajaj Finance, PowerGrid, HDFC Bank, NTPC, and Sun Pharma. On the losing side, Hindustan Unilever Ltd, Nestle India, ITC, Maruti, and Asian Paints faced significant declines. In the Nifty pack, UltraTech Cement, Shriram Finance, M&M, Grasim, Titan, Adani Ports, BEL, SBI, Bajaj Finance, and PowerGrid were among the top gainers, while Hindustan Unilever Ltd, SBI Life, Hindalco, Nestle India, Bajaj Auto, Britannia, and Maruti were the biggest losers.
Market experts noted that despite ongoing selloffs by foreign institutional investors (FIIs), the benchmark indices experienced only minor losses. They attributed this resilience to India’s positive October PMI data, which continues to signal healthy growth and supports the Reserve Bank of India’s growth guidelines for FY25.
Additionally, market watchers highlighted that the FMCG sector is grappling with declines due to delayed demand recovery and margin pressures.
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