Mkts Trade Flat In Sluggish Session
Investors preferred to stay on the sidelines in the absence of any fresh trigger; IT shares in focus on US spending hopes
Mkts Trade Flat In Sluggish Session
Mumbai: Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty closed flat in a volatile trade on Tuesday amid bouts of buying and selling in select heavyweight stocks. The 30-share BSE Sensex edged up 1.59 points to close at 81,510.05 with 16 of its components closing higher and 14 ending lower. The index opened flat and climbed 217.88 points or 0.27 per cent to hit an intraday high of 81,726.34 in the first half. However, the index fell 325 points to hit a low of 81,508.46 due to profit booking in the second half.
A recovery in select heavyweights Infosys, ICICI Bank and SBI helped it recover losses in the pre-close session. Falling for the third day, the NSE Nifty dropped by 8.95 points or 0.04 per cent to settle at 24,610.05. In the intraday trade, it slipped 108.35 points or 0.44 per cent to hit a low of 24,510.65.
“The domestic market concluded on a flat note, a rebound from the lows suggests buy-on-dip strategy,” Vinod Nair, head (research), Geojit Financial Services.
The broader market outperformed, maintaining its positive trend led by mid and small-caps.
“Further, markets are likely to remain subdued ahead of domestic and US inflation readings due later in the week. The benchmark index began the trading session on a subdued note, reaching its daily high within the first hour before gradually trending downward for much of the day,” Ameya Ranadive Chartered Market Technician, CFTe, Sr Technical Analyst, StoxBox.
The BSE IT index reached record high of 45,154.10 in anticipation of improvement in US IT spending. From the 30-share pack, Bajaj Finserv, HCL Technologies, Infosys, State Bank of India, Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Titan were among the gainers. Bharti Airtel, Adani Ports, Tech Mahindra, Reliance Industries, Axis Bank, Larsen & Toubro were the laggards.
The BSE smallcap gauge climbed 0.33 per cent and the midcap index gained 0.30 per cent. Among sectoral indices, realty rose 1.22 per cent, focussed IT by 0.84 per cent, IT by 0.70 per cent, metal by 0.41 per cent, and commodities and financial services by 0.36 per cent each.
