Indian Shares End Flat; ITC Gains, Reliance Industries Falls

   By Ashutosh Joshi 
 

MUMBAI--Indian stocks ended flat Thursday as investors avoided taking fresh positions on the settlement of June derivatives.

The Bombay Stock Exchange's benchmark Sensitive Index gained 23.00 points, or 0.1%, to 16,990.76. The National Stock Exchange's broader Nifty index ended 7.25 points, or 0.1%, higher at 5,149.15.

Trading volume at the BSE's cash segment rose to 42.76 billion rupees from Wednesday's INR15.60 billion, as HSBC Holdings sold its 4.73% stake in Axis Bank. Gainers outnumbered decliners 1,461 to 1,312, while 127 stocks remained unchanged.

Sentiment in local markets was similar to most of Asia, where stocks ended mixed. Asian markets opened higher, helped by some encouraging economic data from the U.S. overnight, but later moderated ahead of a summit of European leaders that starts later Thursday.

Daljeet Kohli, head of research at brokerage firm IndiaNivesh Securities, said investors in India are awaiting decisions on reforms by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who now holds the finance portfolio.

He said that if the prime minister reviews some tax policies in next few weeks, as some media reports indicated, it will be a major trigger.

Consumer-goods maker ITC gained 1.5% to INR251.45, due mainly to defensive buying.

State-run utility NTPC was up 1.5% at INR157.25, while Tata Power rose 1.3% to INR98.95 after New Delhi's electricity regulator Wednesday approved higher tariffs in India's capital.

Reliance Industries lost 0.5% to INR719.35, while State Bank of India fell 0.9% to INR2,095.45.

Write to Ashutosh Joshi at [e-mail]