Sensex, Nifty end almost flat amid volatile trade

MUMBAI: Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty ended almost flat in a see-saw trade on Tuesday as investors traded cautiously, awaiting cues from the US Federal Reserve's policy stance.

Foreign fund outflows and elevated levels of crude oil prices also weighed on investor sentiment, traders said.

In a volatile trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex slipped 29.07 points or 0.04 per cent to settle at 66,355.71. During the day, it touched an intra-day peak of 66,559.29 and hit the lowest level of 66,177.62.

The NSE Nifty inched up by 8.25 points or 0.04 per cent to end at 19,680.60. The broader index moved between the range of 19,729.35 and 19,615.95.

''Indian indices hovered along the flat line, waiting ahead for the crucial decision of Fed policy. Metal stocks rose due to China's commitment to provide policy support to its realty sector, while utilities were up in anticipation of demand & improvement in operating margin,'' said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

In the previous two sessions, the indices have seen correction after reaching their lifetime peaks on Thursday. Nair attributed the correction in the market to the lower-than-expected quarterly performance of some bellwether companies, the outflow of foreign funds and a stronger dollar.

''The recent correction of the domestic market can be attributed to several factors, including muted start to Q1 results, a reversal in FII activity, a rising dollar index, and an increase in crude oil prices,'' he added.

From the Sensex pack, JSW Steel, Tata Steel, NTPC and UltraTech Cement emerged as major winners, closing the day with a gain of up to 3.33 per cent.

On the other hand, Asian Paints, ITC, L&T and SBI were the laggards, ending the session up to 3.95 per cent lower.

BSE Midcap went up by 115.44 points or 0.39 per cent to 29,750.29, while Smallcap index inched up by 107.05 points or 0.31 per cent to 34,279.08 points.

Among sectoral indices, BSE Utilities gained the maximum by 3.36 per cent, followed by Metal (2.88 per cent), Power (2.69 per cent) and Commodities (1.55 per cent).

In contrast, FMCG fell 0.75 per cent, followed by Capital Goods 0.64 per cent, realty 40 per cent and Bankex 0.37 per cent. ''Nifty witnessed pressure for the third consecutive day and traded sideways throughout the session to close with minuscule gains at 19,681 levels. Sectorially it was a mixed bag with buying seen in metals, auto, and consumer Durables.

''We expect cautiousness in the market, ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting on Wednesday where a 25 bps hike is expected,'' Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, said.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets ended mixed on Tuesday with Hang Seng gaining 4.10 per cent, Shanghai Composite rising 2.13 per cent and the Nikkei 225 closing 0.06 per cent down.

European markets were moving upward with the UK's FTSE 100 trading 0.15 per cent higher. While France's CAC 40 was up 0.24 per cent, Garmany's DAX was 0.18 per cent higher.

The US markets ended broadly higher on Monday, with the S&P 500 registering a gain of 0.40 per cent.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.18 per cent lower at USD 82.59 a barrel.

''After showing weakness in the last couple of sessions, Nifty shifted into a consolidation on Tuesday and closed the day with minor gains. After opening with an upside gap, the market shifted into a narrow range movement at the lows for the better part of the session.

''Volatility has occurred in the mid to later part and Nifty finally closed the day with an upside recovery note towards the end,'' Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst, HDFC Securities, said.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers on Monday as they offloaded equities worth Rs 82.96 crore, according to exchange data.