Equities finished with modest gains after a see-saw session on Friday as investors remained on the sidelines amid a crucial central board meeting of the Reserve Bank.
Asian markets skidded as concerns over global growth and the protracted U.S.-China trade dispute sapped risk appetite.
The BSE Sensex ticked higher by 33.29 points, or 0.09%, to end at 35,962.93 in choppy trade. The broader NSE Nifty rose 13.90 points, or 0.13%, to 10,805.45. This is the fourth straight session of gain for the benchmarks.
The RBI board meeting got underway Friday morning to discuss contentious issues, including a new economic capital framework (ECF) for the central bank and relaxation in the prompt corrective action norms for at least some state-run banks.
This is the first board meet chaired by the newly-appointed Shaktikanta Das, who took over as the 25th RBI Governor Wednesday.
Among sectoral indices, telecom led the chart, spurting 3.08%, followed by oil and gas.
However, finance, healthcare, industrials, consumer durables and capital goods declined up to 0.81%.
Major gainers in the Sensex pack were Bharti Airtel, Yes Bank, ONGC, Coal India, NTPC, Infosys, Asian Paints, PowerGrid and ICICI Bank, rising up to 5.32%.
The losers included Wipro (down 1.67%), HDFC (1.65%), L&T (0.79%) and Bajaj Auto (0.71%).
The rupee, meanwhile, fell 14 paise to 71.82 against the US dollar in intra-day trade.
On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth ₹675.14 crore on Thursday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were sellers to the tune of ₹51.86 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed.
Brent crude oil futures were trading 0.93% lower at USD 60.87 per barrel.
Elsewhere in Asia, Korea’s Kospi fell 1.25%, Japan’s Nikkei dropped 2.02%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 1.62% and Shanghai Composite Index slipped 1.53%.
In Europe, Frankfurt’s DAX fell 1.46% and Paris’ CAC 40 shed 1.21% in their early deals. London’s FTSE too slipped 1.13%.
