In a session marked by consolidation, India’s key stock indices closed flat on Thursday. The BSE Sensex shed 27.46 points to settle at 82,248.61, while the NSE Nifty inched higher by 14.05 points to 25,496.55. Resilient defense and healthcare counters offset drags from other segments.
Sectoral heatmap glowed green for Nifty India Defense (+1.48%) and Nifty Healthcare (+1.24%). Pharma added 1.08%, PSU banks 0.95%, oil & gas 0.87%, auto 0.80%, manufacturing 0.78%, metal 0.39%, and infra 0.32%.
Media lagged with a 0.68% drop, joined by FMCG (-0.16%), financial services (-0.11%), and services (-0.06%).
Midcaps outperformed, with Nifty Midcap 100 up 392.05 points (0.66%) at 59,798.15. Smallcaps held steady, down a mere point to 17,117.65.
Sensex gainers: BEL, Adani Ports, Sun Pharma, Maruti Suzuki, Bharti Airtel, SBI, TCS, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, HUL, Titan, Tech Mahindra. Notable laggards: Trent, Eternal, Powergrid, HDFC Bank, Asian Paints, UltraTech Cement, NTPC, Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, ITC, Bajaj Finserv, T&T, HCL Tech, M&M.
SBI Securities’ Sudeep Shah highlighted the Nifty’s low-range hover, indicative of cautious sentiment. ‘Immediate hurdle at 25,630-25,660; upside to 25,800 possible on breakout. Supports at 25,380-25,350,’ he said.
With eyes on corporate earnings and global volatility, defense stocks’ momentum suggests sustained interest in high-growth, policy-backed themes.