Mumbai: Benchmark equity indices ended flat on Friday (January 17) with the Sensex closing up 12.81 points or 0.03% at 41945.37, while the NSE Nifty settled 3.10 points down or 0.03% at 12352.40.
Major gainer on the Nifty were Bharti Airtel, Dr Reddys Labs, Reliance Industries, Sun Pharma and Grasim Industries, while Bharti Infratel, IndusInd Bank, GAIL, BPCL, and Yes Bank were among major losers. About 1312 shares advanced, 1192 shares declined, while and 170 shares remain unchanged.
Vodafone Idea Ltd plunged 25.8% on its worst day since July last year, while telecom tower company Bharti Infratel Ltd sank 11.1% and was the worst performer on the Nifty.
Analysts said Vodafone Idea`s chances of survival were getting slimmer after the Supreme Court on Thursday rejected petitions by wireless carriers for relief from paying nearly $13 billion in dues to the government.
Banks with exposure to the vulnerable telecom companies also took a hit, with Yes Bank Ltd, IndusInd Bank Ltd and State Bank of India slipping between 1.6% and 2.5%.
Asian shares rose on Friday after data in China showed pressure on the world`s second biggest economy may be starting to diminish.
The news along with easing trade tensions with the United States underpinned riskier assets, even as some markets took a breather in late afternoon trade.
European bourses were expected to extend the global rally after Wall Street posted more records. In early European trades, pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures were up 0.4%, German DAX futures gained 0.54% and FTSE futures added 0.28%.
China`s economy grew 6.0% in the fourth quarter of 2019 from a year earlier, and 2019 growth of 6.1% was the slowest in 29 years, held back by anaemic domestic demand and the damaging trade war with the United States.
The data largely reinforced recent signs of an improvement in Chinese business confidence as trade tensions eased, with Beijing and Washington sealing an initial deal on Wednesday to defuse their damaging tariff war.
MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.18% in afternoon trade, trimming earlier gains of as much as 0.4%.
China`s blue-chip CSI300 index ended 0.14% higher, down from an earlier rise of as much as 0.67%. The index has rallied more than 8.5% since the beginning of December, fuelled by hopes for improved trade relations with the United States.
Australian shares added 0.32% to a fifth consecutive record high close, and Seoul`s KOSPI rose 0.11%. Japan`s Nikkei finished up 0.45% after reaching 15-month highs earlier in the session.
MSCI`s global share index touched record highs and was last up 0.05%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.92% to 29,297.64, the S&P 500 gained 0.84% to 3,316.81 and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.06% to 9,357.13.
The US data supported the dollar, which held steady on Friday. The greenback hit eight-month highs against the yen before trimming its advance to rise 0.09% to 110.24. The euro was up 0.04% to buy $1.1140.
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was lower at 97.292.
The rally in equities was mirrored in US benchmark 10-year Treasury notes, which saw yields rise to 1.8285% from their close on Thursday at 1.809%. Yields rise as prices fall.
(With Agency Inputs)
