The stock market closed flat on Tuesday amid volatility, with Sensex ending 33.48 points lower at 76,456.59 and Nifty inching up by 5.65 points to close at 23,264.85. Despite the overall tepid performance, the Construction, Automobile, and Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) banks sectors stood out.
Throughout the trading day, the Sensex and Nifty showed mixed signals but maintained steady gains during intra-day trading, driven by robust performances from Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and key automobile stocks like Tata Motors and Maruti. The broader market indices outperformed the benchmarks, with the BSE SmallCap index advancing by 1.08 percent and the BSE MidCap climbing by 0.81 percent, indicating strong investor confidence in smaller and mid-sized companies.
Among Nifty companies, 28 stocks advanced while 22 declined. Top gainers included Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Tata Motors, L&T, Adani Ports, and Maruti Suzuki, driven by positive sectoral developments and optimistic market sentiment. Conversely, significant declines were observed in stocks like Kotak Mahindra Bank, Divi’s Laboratories, ITC, Reliance Industries, and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories due to sector-specific headwinds and profit booking.
Varun Aggarwal, founder and managing director of Profit Idea, commented, “Asian markets painted a somber picture, with the MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dipping by 0.5 percent. Chinese blue-chip stocks fell by 1.2 percent, leading to a decline in the yuan to a seven-month low, underscoring concerns over China’s economic outlook.”
Investors are closely watching the upcoming U.S. consumer price inflation data and the Federal Reserve’s policy decision scheduled for Wednesday. Aggarwal noted, “The anticipation of these key economic indicators has kept market participants on edge, with rate futures indicating a reduced expectation of 38 basis points of Federal Reserve easing for the year, down from the previous expectation of 50 basis points.”
Gold prices remained steady, hovering above one-month lows, while oil prices held firm ahead of key supply and demand data releases, with Brent crude futures trading at USD 81.62 a barrel.
Tuesday’s market session in India was marked by sector-specific performances and broader market resilience amid global economic uncertainties, with volatility expected to persist as critical economic data releases and policy decisions approach.