Closing Bell: Market ends the week marginally higher; Nifty holds 16600

Domestic equity bourses Sensex and Nifty indices swung between gains and losses in a sluggish trading session, as the bulls looked overwhelmed after a three-day winning run.

Headline equity indices rose for the fourth straight session on Friday led by gains in pharma, oil and gas and healthcare names. The domestic indexes tilted between gains and losses in a highly volatile trade before settling in the green.

At the closing bell on March 11, the Sensex was up 85.91 points or 0.15% at 55,550.30, and the Nifty was up 35.60 points or 0.21% at 16,630.50. On the market depth, around 2004 shares have advanced, 1257 shares declined, and 112 shares are unchanged.

Top Nifty gainers on a choppy day were Cipla, BPCL, Sun Pharma, JSW Steel and IOC, while top losers include Nestle India, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Consumer Products, Hindalco Industries and NTPC. Among the buzzing stocks, Cipla was the top Nifty gainer as it surged 5.87% to Rs 1,045.

On the sectoral front, Pharma index rose 2% and oil & gas indices added 1%. In the broad market, the BSE midcap and smallcap indices ended in the green.

On the global front, oil prices stabilised and were on track for their biggest weekly drops since November 2021, after ascending on fears of escalating bans on Russian oil versus efforts to bring more supply to market from other major producers. Also, the European market began the day with cautious gains shrugging off weakness in most other markets around the globe after a 40-year high in US inflation reading fuelled concerns about rate hikes. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.3% in early deals.