The Sensex and Nifty ended marginally lower in highly volatile trade on Tuesday, with losses in IT and auto stocks more than offset by gains in banking and oil shares amid mixed global trends.
The 30-stock BSE Sensex fell 40.14 points, or 0.07 percent, to 57,613.72 as 19 stocks fell and 11 advanced. The index opened higher and rose 295.59 points, or 0.51 percent, to a high of 57,949.45. It, however, failed to maintain its gains and fell to a low of 57,494.91 later that day.
The broader NSE Nifty fell 34 points, or 0.20 percent, to 16,951.70 after ranging between 17,061.75 and 16,913.75.
As many as 32 Nifty stocks fell, 17 rose, and one remained unchanged. Among the major Nifty losers were Adani Entertainment, Adani Ports, Tech Mahindra, HeroMotoCorp, and Tata Motors.
Tech Mahindra, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel, Wipro, Bajaj Finserv, HCL Technologies, Bajaj Finance, Larsen & Toubro, Mahindra & Mahindra, and UltraTech Cement were the worst performers on the Sensex.
Among the notable winners were IndusInd Bank, Power Grid, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, NTPC, Reliance Industries, HDFC, and Tata Steel.
“Indian markets remained in the grip of bears as investors remained cautious in anticipation of further tightening from the RBI,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
The Nifty small and midcap stocks continued to underperform, according to Nair, as a result of a drop in investor risk appetite and tax harvesting for FY23.
“Nifty witnessed yet another day of rangebound price action. It stabilized between 16,900 and 17,100 for the third day in a row, according to Jatin Gedia, a technical research analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.
In Asian markets, Seoul, Japan, and Hong Kong closed higher, while Shanghai closed slightly lower.
European equities were trading in positive territory during the afternoon session. The US markets ended on a mixed note on Monday.
On Monday, the 30-share BSE benchmark rose 126.76 points, or 0.22 percent, to 57,653.86. The Nifty rose 40.65 points, or 0.24 percent, to 16,985.70.
