The Indian equity benchmarks were little changed on Thursday ahead of monthly expiry of December futures and option contracts due later in the day. On Dalal Street, losses in ICICI Bank, HDFC, Bajaj Finserv, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finance and Kotak Mahindra Bank were offset with gains in Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, Wipro, Tech Mahindra and HCL Technologies. The Sensex moved in a band of 235 points and Nifty 50 index touched an intraday high of 17,217 and low of 17,146.
As of 9:27 am, the Sensex was down 46 points at 57,760 and Nifty 50 index slipped 23 points to 17,191.
Meanwhile, major global stock indexes closed mixed on Wednesday as uncertainty over the surge in Omicron variant infections tempered optimism that harsh new curbs on business and travel may not be needed, news agency Reuters reported.
The Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 index closed at all-time highs on strong U.S. retail sales. The Dow has risen six straight trading days, in the longest winning streak since a seven-session run from March 5-15 this year. Some early studies showing a reduced risk of hospitalization in Omicron cases have eased concerns over the travel disruptions and powered the S&P 500 to record highs this week.
Back home, eight of 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading lower led by the Nifty Realty index's 0.45 per cent decline. Nifty PSU Bank, Private Bank, Auto, Bank and Financial Services indexex were also trading with a negative bias.
On the other hand, IT, metal, FMCG, Pharma, Healhcare and Consumer Durable shares were witnessing buying interest.
Broader markets were trading mixed as Nifty Midcap 100 was trading flat while Nifty Smallcap 100 index advanced 0.5 per cent.
Bajaj Auto was top Nifty loser, the stock fell 1.6 per cent to Rs 3,211. The company on Wednesday said it will set up an electric vehicle manufacturing facility at Akurdi in Pune with an investment of Rs 300 crore.
The facility, for which the work has already commenced, will have the capacity to produce 5,00,000 Electric Vehicles (EVs) per annum and cater to both domestic and exports markets, the company said in a release.
Bajaj Finserv, Sun Pharma, Hero MotoCorp, Bharat Petroleum, Larsen & Toubro, Adani Ports, Mahindra & Mahindra, Indian Oil and Axis Bank also fell between 0.4-1.5 per cent.
On the flipside, JSW Steel, Infosys, Maruti Suzuki, Divi's Labs, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Eicher Motors, Hindalco, HDFC Bank and Nestle India were among the gainers.
The overall market breadth was positive as 1,758 shares were advancing while 1,022 were declining on the BSE.
