Sensex, Nifty close flat after touching all-time high

Mumbai, May 24: The BSE Sensex and Nifty on Friday ended flat with marginal decline. At closing, Sensex settled at 75,410, down seven points and Nifty at 22,957 points, down nearly 10 points.

Midcap, and smallcap stocks also traded in a sideways range on Friday. The Nifty midcap index closed at 52,424 points with a gain of 5.90 points and the Nifty smallcap closed at 16,883 points with a decline of 28 points.

Among the sector indices PSE, Energy, Auto, Media, Banking and Fin Service were major gainers. Metal, IT, Pharma and FMCG were major laggards.

A total of 21 out of 30 Sensex stocks closed in red.

HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, L&T, NTPC, and UltraTech were the top gainers, whereas, Asian Paints, Tech Mahindra, ITC, M&M, TCS, and Titan Company were the top losers.

Vaibhav Vidwani, Research Analyst, Bonanza Portfolio Ltd said: "Domestic market indices Sensex and Nifty stepped back after hitting all-time high levels, as the global market cues remained weak. Nifty topped the 23,000 mark while Sensex also made a new high today."

According to other market experts, "Global market sentiments remained subdued as the recent US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes suggest a continued hawkish stance on policy rates. US jobless claims fell more than expected, corporate profits remained healthy, and stubborn inflation persists, giving the Fed no reason to cut rates."