Indian shares ended little changed on Thursday, as gains in IT companies such as Infosys Ltd helped offset declines in financial firms, while bonds fell after oil prices hit a two-year high. The benchmark BSE index closed up 0.08 percent at 33,588.08 while the broader NSE index ended 0.06 percent higher at 10,348.75. The benchmark 10-year bond fell, with the yield up 3 basis points to 6.99 percent from its close on Wednesday after earlier rising as much as 6 bps.
Analysts said the market was consolidating for want of fresh triggers, after the earnings season wound down, having hit record levels earlier this month.
Meanwhile, a rally in oil prices has continued to reduce expectations of rate cuts ahead of the central bank's policy meeting early next month. "There aren't many domestic factors driving the markets. The inflow is mostly from domestic investors," said Sangeeth V, institutional relationship manager at Paterson Securities.
On chart, as per Fibonacci projection levels, the NSE index faces a strong resistance near 10,400, the 38.2 percent projection of the uptrend from Sep. 28 low of 9687.55 to November 6 high of 10,490.45. Meanwhile, the benchmark 10-year bond yield was up 5 bps to 7.01 percent from Wednesday's close after rising to as high as 7.02 percent. IT stocks were among the major gainers, with Infosys Ltd rising as much as 2.9 percent. Over half a million Infosys shares changed hands in block deals on the NSE.
Thomas Cook (India) Ltd rose as much as 6.4 percent after divesting a part of Quess Corp Ltd to raise 6 billion rupees in order to reduce long term debt.