Indian stock market settles flat ahead of key US-Russia summit

Mumbai, Aug 14 The Indian stock market settled flat on Thursday amid a mixed approach as investors remained cautious ahead of the crucial dialogue between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, scheduled for August 15.

Sensex settled at 80,597.66, up 57 points or 0.07 per cent. The 30-share index started the session slightly up at 80,625.28 against last session's closing of 80,539.91, continuing the last day's momentum. The index remained range-bound, touching an intra-day high at 80,751.18 and a low at 80,489.86, during the session amid a mixed approach from the investors.

Nifty ended the session at 24,631.30, up 11.95 points or 0.05 per cent.

"After a volatile weekly expiry-day session, Indian equities ended flat as investors traded cautiously ahead of the US-Russia summit. IT and pharma stocks advanced on the back of a softer US inflation data and a dovish outlook. Banking and consumer durables also gained on hopes of a consumption-led recovery," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited

However, weakness was seen in metals and energy indices due to falling commodity prices and oversupply concerns. S&P’s upgrade of India’s credit rating and its stable outlook, citing strong policy continuity and infrastructure-led growth, is likely to support the domestic market. In the near-term, the market is expected to trade in a tight range with a mixed bias, looking forward to upcoming geopolitical events, Nair added.

Eternal, Infosys, Asian Paints, HDFC Bank, Bajaj FinServ, Titan, and Maruti Suzuki were the top gainers from the Sensex basket. Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, BEL, Ultratech Cement, Hindustan Unilever, and HCL Tech were among the top losers.

The mixed approach was seen in sectoral indices, as well as some settled in green while some ended the session in negative territory. Nifty Financial Services (up 95 points), Nifty Bank (up 160 points) and Nifty IT (up 140 points) settled higher, while Nifty FMCG (down 353 points) and Nifty Auto closed in red.

The broader indices followed suit as well. Nifty next 50 settled 110 points or 0.17 per cent lower, Nifty 100 ended the session flat, Nifty Midcap 100 fell 177 points or 0.31 per cent and Nifty Small cap 100 closed 66 points or 0.38 per cent.

Rupee ended at 87.54, down 0.10 paise or 0.10 per cent, tracking range-bound moves in the dollar index at 97.83.

"Markets remain watchful ahead of Friday’s key meeting between US President Trump and Russian President Putin over possible peace talks on the Russia-Ukraine war. The rupee is expected to trade in the 87.25–88.00 range," said Jateen Trivedi of LKP Securities.

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