Mumbai, Nov 13 (IANS) The key domestic equity indices closed flat on Thursday, erasing early gains amid profit booking in IT and auto heavyweights, ahead of Bihar election results.

Sensex ended the session at 84,478.67, up 12.16 points or 0.01 per cent. Continuing the previous day’s rally, the 30-share index started trading higher at 84,525.89 against last session’s closing of 84,466.51. However, the index traded volatile during the session and closed flat amid profit booking post the last three days ‘ rally.

Nifty closed 25,879.15, up 3.35 points or 0.01 per cent.

“National equities closed flat after a positive session, as profit-booking erased early gains despite optimistic global and domestic cues. Sentiment was buoyed by Trump signing a short-term funding bill to end the U.S. government shutdown and hopes of tariff relief for India,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited.

The record-low October inflation prints reinforced expectations of an RBI rate cut, making rate-sensitive sectors like metals and realty attractive to investors, he added.

ICICI Bank, PowerGrid, L&T, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, and Maruti Suzuki were among the top gainers from the Sensex stocks. Eternal, Tata Motors CV, Mahindra and Mahindra, Tata Steel, BEL, Tata Motors PV, Trent, TCS, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever, and Bajaj FinServ ended the session lower.

Sectoral indices remained volatile as investors showed a mixed approach throughout the session. Nifty Fin Services rose 58 points or 0.22 per cent, and Nifty Bank increased 107 points or 0.18 per cent. While Nifty Auto dipped 102 points or 0.37 per cent, Nifty IT fell 175 points or 0.48 per cent, and Nifty FMCG closed 285 points or 0.51 per cent lower.

Broader indices experienced pressure amid selling in small-cap and mid-cap stocks. Nifty Small Cap 100 decreased 66 points or 0.37 per cent, Nifty Midcap 100 fell 210 points or 0.35 per cent, while Nifty 100 ended flat.

Rupee traded flat in a narrow range near 88.67, as market participants remained cautious ahead of the Bihar election outcome due Friday morning, leading to a muted trading session.

“Traders awaited the release of US CPI data, which is expected to influence dollar index movements and, consequently, rupee trends. With limited triggers in the interim, the rupee is likely to stay range-bound, with the trading range expected between 88.40–88.95,” said Jateen Trivedi of LKP Securities.

–IANS

aps/na