Sensex, Nifty end volatile trade on a flat note; RIL gains offset by HDFC Bank losses

After swinging between gains and losses throughout the day, Indian equity indices settled flat on Wednesday, as the gains from Reliance Industries and L&T were offset by losses from HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank.

The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex dipped by 45 points or 0.06% to settle at 73,466, while the NSE Nifty50 closed just above the 22,300 level.

From the Sensex pack, Asian Paints, UltraTech Cement, HUL, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, and HCL Tech were top laggards, falling 1-2%. On the other hand, Tata Motors, Power Grid, NTPC, L&T, and Maruti ended with gains.

On the sectoral front, Nifty Auto surged 1.5%, led by Bharat Forge after the company reported a 78% YOY jump in consolidated net profit in Q4.

Meanwhile, Nifty Oil and Gas rose 1.7%. GAIL and IGL were the biggest gainers on the index, adding 4.6% and 3.6%, respectively.Among individual stocks, Voltas fell 5% after the home appliances manufacturer recorded a 340 basis point sequential drop in its EBITDA margin.Paytm shares also closed 5% lower amid reports indicating that Aditya Birla Finance, one of the fintech firm’s key lending partners, invoked loan guarantees due to repayment defaults from customers.