BENGALURU: Indian shares pared gains on Friday mirroring financials, while a slide in metal stocks and fears of aggressive interest rate hikes by global central banks weighed on sentiment.
The Nifty 50 index fell 0.02% to 17,508.15, while the S&P BSE Sensex edged 0.04% higher to 59,632.17 as of 11:11 a.m. IST. Both the benchmarks traded between 0.6% gains and 0.1% losses.
The benchmark mirrored high-weightage financials which fell 0.05%. Nine of the 13 sectoral indexes advanced.
Indian shares fall in volatile session
Metal stocks tumbled over 2% with 11 of the 15 constituents logging losses.
“Metals are under pressure due to a rise in the dollar index as commodities have an inverse proportionality to dollar,” said Astha Jain, senior research analyst at Hem Securities.
The dollar index, which measures the safe-haven greenback against six peers, hovered near a two-month high of 104.78.
Wall Street equities ended in positive territory overnight, with the S&P 500 snapping a four-session losing streak, even as weekly jobs data underscored the strength of the U.S. economy and heightened chances of the Federal Reserve continuing with its tight monetary policy stance.
“With the valuations of Indian markets returning to normal levels with the recent slide, there is not much downside,” said Narendra Solanki, head of equity research at Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers.
“Expect Nifty 50 to consolidate in a narrow range with no major directional moves for the next few months,” Solanki added.
Among individual stocks, Sanofi India jumped over 4% after reporting a rise in net profit in the December quarter.
Olectra Green surged more than 13% after the company said it developed a hydrogen bus to ply on Indian roads in a technical partnership with Reliance Industries.
Zee Entertainment tumbled nearly 4% on insolvency proceedings and the National Stock Exchange’s ban on derivatives trading, effective April 28.
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