BENGALURU (Reuters) - Indian blue-chip indexes shed early gains to end flat on Thursday, as IT stocks pulled back after a recent rally and as Cipla slumped after the US health regulator's warning letter.
The NSE Nifty 50 index (.NSEI) dipped 0.05% to end at 19,802 points and the S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) settled 0.01% lower at 66,017.81. Both had risen about 0.3% during the session.
Cipla (CIPL.NS) sank nearly 8% in its worst day in nearly eight years after the US drug regulator published its warning letter on the drugmaker's manufacturing violations at a plant.
Cipla was the top Nifty loser and also pulled pharma stocks (.NIPHARM) down 1.57% to snap a six-session rally.
IT stocks (.NIFTYIT) lost 0.59%. They had gained 6.30% since mid-November when soft US inflation data spurred bets that the Federal Reserve may be done raising interest rates.
On the flip side, two-wheeler maker Hero MotoCorp (HROM.NS) rose 4.52%, extending its post-earnings rally to the ninth session. It was the top Nifty gainer and drove auto stocks (.NIFTYAUTO) to a fresh record high.
The more domestically focussed small-caps (.NIFSMCP100) added 0.70%, while mid-caps (.NIFMDCP100) closed flat.
"The near-term outlook for domestic equities remains positive, but the small- and mid-cap rally seems driven by speculation and on retail inflows," said Samrat Dasgupta, CEO of Esquire Capital Investment Advisors.
Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) (HPCL.NS) jumped nearly 7% after Reuters reported that the government planned to ask state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC.NS) to consider launching a rights issue to help fund HPCL's green projects.
Newly listed Honasa Consumer (HONA.NS), the parent of Mamaearth cosmetics, surged 20% after reporting its quarterly profit nearly doubled.