Indian shares flat as financials offset US data-powered IT

BENGALURU, Aug 30 (Reuters): Indian shares erased gains and settled near the session's low on Wednesday as a rise in IT stocks on easing interest rate concerns in the United States was offset by a late slide in financials, dragged by private lender HDFC Bank on block deals.
The Nifty 50 index settled 0.02 per cent higher at 19,347.45, while the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.02 per cent to 65,087.25.
Both the blue-chips had risen over 0.5 per cent during the session.
Financials closed 0.50 per cent lower on selling pressure in final hour of the session, after having risen 0.58 per cent earlier in the day. Heaviest Nifty 50 stock HDFC Bank led the losses, shedding 0.73 per cent on multiple block deals.
The late slide in blue-chips and financials mirrored the fall in European markets on weak economic data from Germany and Spain.
"Markets were extremely choppy towards the closing hours as investors resorted to profit-taking in select stocks," said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd.
IT climbed 0.77 per cent after US economic data backed bets that the Federal Reserve's policy tightening had resulted in a cooling economy. IT firms earn a significant share of their revenue from the US
Metal stocks extended gains for a third straight session, adding 0.92 per cent on the day, on China's measures supporting its property sector. China is the world's largest metals producer and consumer.
Tata Steel rose 2.13 per cent and was among the top Nifty 50 gainers.
Mid-caps and small-caps added 0.73 per cent and 1.03 per cent, respectively, and hit new all-time highs.