MARKET CLOSING UPDATES: Equity  Benchmark indices ended on a flat note on Thursday, February 16, amid a volatile session. Sensex gained 44 points and Nifty rose by 20 points at closing point.

The NSE Nifty was up by just 20 points or 0.11% to settle at 18,035.80,  while the BSE Sensex gained 44.42 points or 0.07% to close at 61319.51. During the intraday day, it jumped 407.16 points or 0.66% to 61,682.25.

25 of the Nifty 50 constituents advanced while 24 declined, qhile, Nifty Bank was down by 0.24% to settle at 41,631.35.

The top Nifty gainers were ONGC, Tech Mahindra, Apollo Hospitals, Divis Laboratories, and Nestle India, while the top losers were BPCL, Bajaj Finance, HUL, HDFC Life, and Mahindra and Mahindra.

Tech Mahindra, Nestle, Tata Steel, NTPC, Tata Consultancy Services, Asian Paints, Wipro, and Bajaj Finserv were among the Sensex stocks that saw gains.

ONGC and Tech Mahindra advanced 5% along with Apollo Hospitals which gained more than 3%. BPCL, Bajaj Finance and M&M shed in today's session.

The first-half rally was led by the IT, Metal, and Property sectors, which increased by more than 1%. The Bank, Auto, and Finance indices all had slight losses when they closed Thursday.

Rupee Vs Dollar: The rupee strengthened against the US dollar by 13 paise to settle at 82.70, helped by widespread dollar weakness and an uptick in domestic equities.

According to exchange data, Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPI) were net purchasers on Wednesday, purchasing shares worth Rs 432.15 crore.

International Markets: Mmarkets in Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul posted gains, while Hong Kong settled lower. Bourses in Europe were trading in the positive zone in the afternoon session. The US markets had ended significantly higher in the overnight session.
 

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