Mumbai, June 4, 2026 — Benchmark indices ended almost flat on Thursday as investors stayed on the sidelines amid uncertainty in West Asia and continued foreign fund outflows, with caution ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy decision on Friday, June 5. The 30-share BSE Sensex closed marginally higher by 13.84 points (0.02%) at 74,360.01, while the NSE Nifty added 10.95 points (0.05%) to finish at 23,416.55.
Trading was choppy: Sensex hit an intraday high of 74,544.24 and a low of 73,807.30, swinging 736.94 points. From the Sensex pack, Titan, Eternal, ITC, Tech Mahindra, State Bank of India and ICICI Bank were among the top gainers, while Infosys, Bajaj Finserv, UltraTech Cement, HCL Tech and Adani Ports lagged.
Foreign Institutional Investors sold equities worth Rs 5,616.56 crore on Wednesday, June 3, according to exchange data, reinforcing a cautious tone. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, fell 1.68% to USD 96.17 a barrel, adding to market concerns about elevated energy costs. Investors were also waiting for upcoming GDP data that, together with the RBI decision, is expected to clarify the growth outlook.
Small- and mid-cap segments outperformed the large caps: the BSE SmallCap Select index rose 1.02% and the MidCap Select index gained 0.40%. Sector-wise, Consumer Durables jumped 1.94%, Capital Goods 1.01%, Telecommunication 0.82%, Consumer Discretionary 0.72%, Oil & Gas 0.57% and Power 0.41%. Metal (-0.85%), Commodities (-0.49%), IT (-0.48%) and certain private bank and focused IT segments saw declines.
“Markets traded with a cautious tone on Thursday,” said Ajit Mishra, SVP, Research at Religare Broking Ltd, adding that weak global cues, volatile crude prices and anticipation of the MPC announcement kept participants largely sidelined, even as buying in a few heavyweight stocks limited losses.
Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, noted that an Israel-Lebanon ceasefire had raised hopes for a broader diplomatic breakthrough involving Iran, but the ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz and little tangible progress in negotiations left investors in a “wait-and-watch mode.”
Regionally, Asian markets closed lower, with South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei 225, Shanghai’s SSE Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng all down. European markets traded mostly higher, while US indices ended lower on Wednesday. On the previous session, Wednesday, the Sensex fell 303.67 points to 74,346.17 and the Nifty slipped 77.95 points to 23,405.60. (PTI)
Original Source: https://theshillongtimes.com/2026/06/05/markets-end-flat-ahead-of-rbi-monetary-policy-decision/
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Publish Date: 2026-06-05 04:48:00
