Sensex, Nifty Post Fourth Weekly Loss In Five; Pharma Outperforms

Indian equities ended the final trading day of the week little changed, after trading in a narrow band throughout the session.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended 30 points higher at 48,832 after trading in a 400 point range while the NSE Nifty 50 index traded in a 150 point range, ending 0.25% higher at 14,617. Gains on the Nifty were led by Wipro. The technology services provider ended at a record closing high with gains of 9%.

For the truncated week, the Sensex and Nifty ended with losses of 1.5% each. This is their fourth weekly loss in the last five weeks.

For today's session, Pharma stocks were the top gainers in today's session. The index ended 1.9% higher. The Nifty Media index was the other major sectoral gainer, also ending with gains of 1.9%. The Nifty Auto and Nifty I.T. indices ended with gains of 1.2% each.

The laggards in today's session were banking and financial names. The Nifty Bank index fell 0.4% while the PSU Bank index saw losses of 0.6%.

Broader markets outperformed the benchmark indices in today's session. The Nifty Midcap index rose 1% while the Smallcap index ended 1.1% higher.

India Volatility Index fell 2.3% to end at 20.4.

1,105 stocks on the NSE ended with gains while 768 stocks posted losses.