Mumbai June 13 (IANS) After trading in the positive territory for most of the day the Indian equity markets on Tuesday were pulled down to close on a flat note as investors were spooked ahead of the two-day US Federal Reserve s rate-setting meet slated for June 13-14.
Besides outflow of foreign funds and heavy selling pressure witnessed in automobile IT and metal stocks trimmed gains and pulled the key indices lower.
The wider 51-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) fell by 9.50 points or 0.10 per cent to close at 9 606.90 points.
In contrast the 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE which opened at 31 091.10 points closed at 31 103.49 points -- up a mere 7.79 points or 0.03 per cent from its previous close at 31 095.70 points.
The Sensex touched a high of 31 260.77 points and a low of 31 062.34 points during intra-day trade.
The BSE market breadth was slightly bearish -- with 1 345 declines and 1 338 advances.
In terms of the broader markets the BSE mid-cap index underperformed the Sensex while the small-cap index outperformed. The S&P BSE mid-cap index was a tad up at 0.01 per cent and the small-cap index rose by 0.41 per cent.
Stocks rose in early trade taking a cue from firm Asian indices and as the CPI (Consumer Price Index) and IIP (Index of Industrial Production) data released after market hours yesterday (Monday) back home boosted expectations of an interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India at its next policy meeting in August 2017 Deepak Jasani Head - Retail Research HDFC Securities told IANS.
Key indices extended gains as the day s trade progressed and hit intra-day high in mid-afternoon trade tracking positive European stocks. However stocks pared almost entire gains in late trade he added.
According to the data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) after market hours on Monday India s annual retail inflation (CPI) eased to a record low of 2.18 per cent in May and the factory output growth (IIP) marginally slowed to 3.1 per cent in April.
On the currency front the rupee strengthened by 10-11 paise to 64.33-34 to a US dollar from its last close of 64.44.
In investments provisional data with the exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold stocks worth Rs 312.40 crore while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought scrips worth Rs 304.58 crore.
According to Dhruv Desai Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls the equity benchmarks ended in the red as selling intensified in the last hour of the trade.
Market turnover was on the heavy side compared to yesterday. While metals IT stocks as well as auto and power stocks ended lower FMCG and infrastructure gained. Today s selling can be attributed to profit booking before the US FOMC meeting tomorrow Desai told IANS.
Sector-wise the S&P BSE automobile index fell by 106.37 points the IT index by 101.87 points and the metal index by 94.18 points.
On the other hand the S&P consumer durables index was up by 52.51 points the FMCG index by 24.82 points and the finance index by 23.90 points.
Major Sensex gainers on Tuesday were: Power Grid up 1.94 per cent at Rs 210; Lupin up 1.73 per cent at Rs 1 177.40; HDFC up 1.52 per cent at Rs 1 668.45; NTPC up 1.27 per cent at Rs 160; and Adani Ports up 0.67 per cent at Rs 359.50.
Major Sensex losers were: Tata Motors down 1.51 per cent at Rs 449.60; Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) down 1.47 per cent at Rs 2 453.40; Wipro down 1.44 per cent at Rs 259.35; Hero MotoCorp down 0.59 per cent at Rs 3 752.55; and Infosys down 0.58 per cent at Rs 958.20.
--IANS
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Indian equities pare gains, global cues spook investors (Roundup)
