Nifty closes absolute flat first time since Oct 27, 2016; Sensex down by 27 points; Fertiliser stocks gain

         NSE Nifty closed flat at 9173 levels. Nifty closes without any change for the first time ever since October 27, 2016. BSE Sensex closed at 29,620 levels, down by 26.9 points or 0.09%.
 
Reliance Industries Limited's (RIL's) stock jumped to a 9-year high of Rs 1337.65 per share on the NSE, as the investors are looking forward to the release of data related to total number of subscribers for Jio’s prime membership.
 
RIL stock witnessed sharp surge in closing hours and lifted the Nifty and Sensex from red zone to green zone for few minutes of closing hour.
 
The Bank Nifty index on Friday’s trade discontinued its 3-day gaining streak to close lower by 176 points at 21444 levels.
 
Fertiliser stocks rallied on the bourses in the opening session owing to talks in the market related to the changes to the National Urea Policy by the Cabinet. FACT (Fertiliser and Chemicals Travancore) closed higher by 13% at Rs 41.6 per share, RCF closed higher by 9.4% at Rs 81.75 per share.
 
There were 934 advances, 697 declines and 293 unchanged stocks on NSE, reflecting slightly bullish undertone floating in the market.
 
Reliance industries was the top Nifty gainer whereas, Axis bank was the top Nifty loser in Friday’s trading session.
 
The BSE Mid-cap Index closed up 0.7% at 14096 whereas, BSE Small-cap Index closed up 0.7% at 14433.

Live Stock Market Updates: Nifty subdues on last day of FY17; South Indian Bank up by over 6%

 
        The South Indian Bank Limited is outperforming the Nifty Private Bank index trading higher by over 6% at Rs 21.5 per share.
 
The PSU Bank stocks are rallying as Cabinet meet is likely discuss the issue of rising NPAs in the banking sector.
 
The FMCG heavyweight, ITC Limited is trading in red lower by 1.08% at Rs 279.7 per share dragging the Nifty FMCG down.
 
There are 980 advances, 585 declines and 358 unchanged stocks on NSE reflecting fairly positive bias floating in the market.
 
At 1 PM, the S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 29590 down 56 points, while NSE Nifty is trading at 9162 down 11 points. A total of 90 stocks registered a fresh 52-week high in trade today, while 17 stocks touched a new 52-week low on the NSE.
 
The BSE Mid-cap Index is trading up 0.7% at 14088, while BSE Small-cap Index is trading up 0.7% at 14430.
 
Some buying activity is seen in Healthcare, Metal, Auto, while FMCG, Information Technology and Telecom are showing weakness on BSE.
 
Hindalco, IOC, BPCL, Tata Steel and Reliance are among the gainers, whereas HDFC Bank, Wipro, Bharti Airtel and HCL Technologies and Cipla are losing sheen on NSE.
 
The INDIA VIX is up 1.37% at 12.3.

Opening Bell - Markets open in red; HDFC Bank down by 1.09%

       At 9:15 AM, the BSE Sensex opened lower by 14 points at 29633, while the Nifty50 opened lower by 14 points at the 9160 mark.
 
HCL Tech is the top Nifty gainer and HDFC Bank is the top Nifty loser in the morning hours on Friday. HCL Tech is trading higher by 1.28% at Rs 887 per share whereas HDFC Bank is trading lower by 1.09% at Rs 1450.15 per share.
 
The level of 9,185 may act as an immediate resistance for Nifty50 and if it holds above 9,185, it may scale up to levels of 9,220 and 9,280. On the flipside, supports are seen around levels of 9,125-9,135.
 
The rupee opened flat at 64.92 per USD.
 
The US stocks closed higher on Thursday after a slightly better-than-expected fourth-quarter GDP data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 69 points up at 20,278. The S&P 500 index closed higher by 7 points at 2,368. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 17 points to close at a record 5,914.
 
Meanwhile, crude oil prices surged for a third straight session on Thursday, with crude trading above $50 a barrel on expectations that the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) would extend production cuts beyond June. 
 
Most of the Asian markets are trading in positive territory on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 118 points. Hang Seng is trading lower by 136 points and Shanghai Composite has gained 5 points as China’s factory output climbed to the highest level in almost five years.