Sensex, Nifty Flat Amid Geopolitical Tensions

Mumbai, May 8 (PTI) Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty began the day on an optimistic note on Thursday but later turned volatile, a day after India launched missile strikes on terrorist hideouts in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.

Investors stayed on the sidelines amid rising geopolitical tensions.

In a strong retaliation to the Pahalgam massacre, India's armed forces early on Wednesday destroyed nine terror sites including that of Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) using deep strike missiles in a 25-minute-long "measured and non-escalatory" mission.

The 30-share BSE benchmark gauge climbed 181.21 points to 80,927.99 in early trade. The NSE Nifty went up by 32.85 points to 24,447.25

However, later both the benchmark indices faced volatile trends and were trading flat. The BSE benchmark Sensex traded 24.31 points lower at 80,730.57, and the Nifty quoted 32.20 points down at 24,382.20.

"In the current context of uncertainty investors may wait and watch the developments on the India-Pak tensions," VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

From the Sensex firms, Tata Motors, Power Grid, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, Adani Ports, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, and State Bank of India were among the biggest gainers.

Eternal, ITC, Maruti, HDFC Bank, and Reliance Industries were among the laggards.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 2,585.86 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng were trading in the positive territory.

US markets ended higher on Wednesday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.70 per cent to USD 61.55 a barrel.

After gyrating between highs and lows during the day on Wednesday, the 30-share BSE benchmark ended 105.71 points or 0.13 per cent higher at 80,746.78. The 50-issue Nifty of NSE advanced by 34.80 points or 0.14 per cent to settle at 24,414.40.