Sensex, Nifty end flat; Sun Pharma Advanced Research leaps by nearly 7 per cent, EID Parry down by nearly 4 per cent

Domestic benchmark indices ended the trading day in the negative territory amid a volatile trading session on Wednesday. Sensex closed down marginally by a mere 24.58 points or 0.07 per cent settling at 37,663.33 while Nifty declined by 24.85 points or 0.22 per cent to close at 11,120.10.

On a sectoral front, metal and auto stocks ended higher while selling was witnessed in energy and pharma stocks.

Share price of Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company soared by over nine per cent intraday on BSE after the company reported net profit for Q1FY21 at Rs 56.69 crore as against a loss of Rs 94.19 crore incurred in Q1FY20. Its EBITDA stood at Rs 60.78 crore for Q1FY21 as against a negative EBITDA of Rs 95.02 crore posted in Q1FY20.

On the global front, US indices had ended their previous trading session with positive sentiments. Asian indices such as Shanghai index, Hang Seng and KOSPI rose by 0.17 per cent, 0.62 per cent and 1.40 per cent respectively wheras Japan's Nikkei fell by 0.26 per cent. European indices such as FTSE 100, DAX and CAC 40 were trading higher by 1.10 per cent, 0.87 per cent and 0.84 per cent respectively.

Despite concerns about COVID-19 cases, oil prices firmed up as data showed a significant decline in US crude inventories. Tracking the trend in global markets, gold prices reached a new peak on Wednesday, hitting a fresh record high. Gold futures on MCX were up by 0.33 per cent or Rs 180 at Rs 54,731 per 10 grams.

India's July PMI is reported at 34.2 compared to 33.7 for June.

Sensex winners comprised Tata Steel increasing by 6.33 per cent, Titan Company gaining by 2.85 per cent, Maruti Suzuki rallying by 2.61 per cent, Bharti Airtel rising by 1.95 per cent, Mahindra & Mahindra increasing by 1.93 per cent, Bajaj Auto gaining by 1.51 per cent, Bajaj Finserv rising by 1.45 per cent, Axis Bank up by 1.39 per cent, etc.

Sensex draggers included Power Grid falling by 1.35 per cent, HDFC Bank decreasing by 1.30 per cent, RIL dropping by 1.14 per cent, Tech Mahindra declining by 0.62 per cent, HCL Technologies dipping by 0.59 per cent, Infosys down by 0.58 per cent, Nestle India down by 0.52 per cent, etc.

Amongst sectoral indices on BSE, owing to positive global cues, Metal index was the biggest gainer, up by 4.05 per cent while Energy index was the biggest loser declining by 0.87 per cent. Broader markets outperformed domestic indices as BSE small-Cap index and BSE mid-cap index gained by 0.85 per cent and 0.39 per cent respectively.