Indian shares hold near record highs; Reliance Industries climbs

Earnings season is about to kick-start with Infosys set to report results on July 14.

india trader
A broker monitors share prices at a brokerage firm in Mumbai. REUTERS

Indian shares closed little changed on Friday, maintaining their hold on record highs, as caution prevailed ahead of the quarterly earnings starting later next week.

The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.03 percent at 31,360 while the broader Nifty lost 0.09 percent at 9,665.

Sentiment across the globe was subdued after the European Central Bank's June meeting minutes showed the central bank is moving closer towards unwinding its monetary stimulus.

Meanwhile U.S. stocks fell overnight following a private report that showed companies added fewer workers to U.S. payrolls in June than the prior month.

Back home, earnings season is about to kick-start with Infosys, country's second biggest software exporter, on July 14 followed by UltraTech Cement on July 18 and Bajaj Auto on July 20.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries rallied 3.4 percent to hit a fresh 52-week high.

Tata Teleservices jumped 15.6 percent while Bharti Airtel gained 1 percent amidst reports the two telecom firms are mulling a tie up.

Pharma companies mostly traded higher. Lupin rose 3.9 percent, Dr Reddy's Laboratories gained 1.6 percent while Sun Pharmaceuticals was up 1 percent.

Sectors such as FMCG, oil and gas and information technology remained subdued.

The laggards were Housing Development Finance Corp down 1.1 percent, ICICI Bank declining 1.3 percent while Asian Paints fell 1.2 percent.

Market breadth was in the favour of gainers, with about 2 stocks advancing to every 1 stock that declined.

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