Stock market steady in special trading session; NSE Nifty 50 Up 0.16%, BSE Sensex Adds 0.12%

Stock market news: Equity markets remained largely unchanged during a special trading session conducted on Saturday, as stock exchanges tested a failsafe system for equity trading, according to Reuters.

The session, held from 9:15 am to 10 am and then from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm, aimed to assess how the systems of Indian equities would respond in the event of unexpected events. This initiative came after a major trading outage in February 2021 due to a technical glitch, prompting scrutiny from the Securities and Exchanges Board of India (Sebi).

During the session, the benchmark NSE Nifty 50 settled 0.16 per cent higher at 22,502, while the S&P BSE Sensex added 0.12 per cent to 74,005.94, trading within a narrow range.

Ajit Mishra, vice president of research at Religare Broking, noted that markets remained cautious, especially with national election results expected on June 4.

Metals gained 0.53 per cent, supported by China's efforts to bolster its struggling property sector. Small-cap and mid-cap stocks outperformed blue chips, rising by 0.82 per cent and 0.51 per cent, respectively.

Among individual stocks, Nestle India was the top Nifty 50 gainer, adding 2.23 per cent, as shareholders rejected a proposal to increase royalty payments to its Swiss parent. Zydus Lifesciences climbed 5 per cent after surpassing profit estimates for the March quarter, boosting the pharma index by 0.67 per cent. However, JSW Steel shed 1.81 per cent after reporting a drop in fourth-quarter profit.

Indian markets will remain closed for a holiday on Monday, with trading set to resume on Tuesday.

(With Reuters inputs.)