Indian shares flat as financials offset US data-powered IT

BENGALURU, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Indian shares erased gains and settled near the sessions low on Wednesday as a rise in IT stocks on easing interest rate concerns in the United States was offset by a late slide in financials, dragged by private lender HDFC Bank on block deals.

The Nifty 50 (.NSEI) index settled 0.02% higher at 19,347.45, while the S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) rose 0.02% to 65,087.25.

Both the blue-chips had risen over 0.5% during the session.

Financials (.NIFTYFIN) closed 0.50% lower on selling pressure in final hour of the session, after having risen 0.58% earlier in the day. Heaviest Nifty 50 stock HDFC Bank (HDFB.NS) led the losses, shedding 0.73% on multiple block deals.

The late slide in blue-chips and financials mirrored the fall in European markets on weak economic data from Germany and Spain.

\“Markets were extremely choppy towards the closing hours as investors resorted to profit-taking in select stocks,\” said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd.

IT (.NIFTYIT) climbed 0.77% after U.S. economic data backed bets that the Federal Reserves policy tightening had resulted in a cooling economy. IT firms earn a significant share of their revenue from the U.S.

Metal stocks (.NIFTYMET) extended gains for a third straight session, adding 0.92% on the day, on Chinas measures supporting its property sector. China is the worlds largest metals producer and consumer.

Tata Steel<TISC.NS rose 2.13% and was among the top Nifty 50 gainers.

Mid-caps (.NIFMDCP100) and small-caps (.NIFSMCP100) added 0.73% and 1.03%, respectively, and hit new all-time highs. The broader market indexes have gained over 24% each in 2023 so far, more than thrice the 6.86% rise in blue-chip Nifty 50.

Zomato (ZOMT.NS) gained 5.39% after 100 million shares changed hands in multiple block deals, while index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RELI.NS) fell marginally on low volumes. The oil-to-telecom conglomerate logged losses in the last five sessions, shedding 4.13%.