Indian shares hold near flat as oil and outflows weigh

what happened

Indian shares traded close to unchanged on Wednesday as investors weighed corporate earnings, higher oil prices and persistent foreign selling. According to Newsmetry API, at 9:46 a.m. IST the Nifty 50 was up 0.07% at 22,738.05, while the BSE Sensex gained 0.13% to 73,128.50. Both benchmarks moved between 0.2% gains and 0.2% losses in morning trading. They had risen about 1.6% on Tuesday, led by technology stocks after HCLTech reported quarterly profit above expectations.

Eight of the 16 major sectors declined, while small-cap and mid-cap indexes were little changed. The IT index, which advanced 5.2% in the previous session, added another 1.2%. Oil prices climbed to about $107 a barrel as traders balanced supply risks linked to fighting between Iran-allied Houthis in Yemen and Saudi Arabia against the possibility of increased diesel supplies from Russia.

Foreign portfolio investors remained net sellers for a 13th straight session, taking year-to-date outflows to a record $32.52 billion. Tata Elxsi rose 7.8% after reporting higher quarterly profit. Bharat Coking Coal gained 6.6% after raising basic prices for some grades of raw coking coal, while Zydus Lifesciences fell 1.5% after a US regulator completed an inspection of its Ahmedabad plant with five observations.

why it matters

Expensive oil and sustained foreign outflows continue to restrain the market, even as strong technology earnings provide support. Investors are also assessing the broader earnings season and upcoming US inflation data.

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