Stock market today: Up and then down! Why Sensex, Nifty turned flat in late trade — what's behind the fade

Indian equity benchmarks erased early gains to trade on a flat note in Thursday's late session, as selling in heavyweight stocks offset strength in the broader market.

At last check, the 30-share BSE Sensex pack slipped 22.39 points or 0.03 per cent to 78,088.85, while the NSE Nifty index edged lower by 1.25 points or 0.01 per cent to 24,230.05.

Index heavyweight stocks such as HDFC Bank Ltd, Bharti Airtel Ltd, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd (M&M), Titan Company Ltd, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL), Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd, Axis Bank Ltd, Bajaj Finance Ltd and NTPC Ltd were among the key laggards.

Despite the muted headline indices, the broader market showed resilience. Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 0.50 per cent, while Nifty Smallcap 100 gained 0.79 per cent.

Market breadth remained firmly positive, with 2,723 stocks advancing out of 4,448 traded on BSE. In comparison, 1,558 stocks declined, while 167 remained unchanged.

"We have witnessed a strong recovery recently, with profit booking seen around 24,300 level. The 24,500 mark has emerged as a strong resistance zone for Nifty50, which the index has so far failed to breach. For now, the market appears to be in a 'buy-on-dips' and 'sell-on-rallies' phase. The key factor to watch will be crude oil prices. As long as oil remains under control, the environment would stay favourable; however, any spike could put pressure on domestic benchmarks. If geopolitical tensions de-escalate further, crude prices may ease in the coming months. Conversely, any re-escalation of the West Asia conflict could add momentum to the upmove in crude, weighing on the Indian market in the short to medium term," said Kranthi Bathini, Equity Strategist at WealthMills Securities.

"In addition, corporate earnings will also be a key factor to watch going forward," he added.

Crude oil prices remained in focus. After a sharp drop in the previous session, Brent crude futures rebounded, rising 1.41 per cent to $96.27 per barrel, which likely weighed on sentiment.

VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments, advised investors to stay selective. "Investors should watch the stocks which are hitting 52-week highs even in a weak market. Such stocks reflect fundamental strength and accumulation by smart money," he said.