Markets pare early gains to end flat; Reliance Industries tumbles

Mumbai: Domestic equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty surrendered early gains to end flat on Wednesday a day ahead of monetary policy decision as profit-booking emerged in market majors Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank.

After rallying 452 points during the day, the BSE Sensex slipped in the red to end 24.58 points or 0.07 per cent lower at 37,663.33. It opened at 37,892.3 points and touched an intra-day high of 38,139.96 and a low of 37,550.60. Similarly, the NSE Nifty inched up 6.40 points or 0.06 per cent to close at 11,101.65.

HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries were among the top laggards, tumbling over 1 per cent, as investors booked profits after their recent bull run. PowerGrid, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Nestle India and HCL Tech too ended with losses.

On the other hand, Tata Steel rallied over 6 per cent, followed by Titan, Maruti, Bharti Airtel and M&M.

According to traders, despite positive cues from global markets and sustained foreign fund inflows, stock-specific action dictated domestic market movement during the day.

According to Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services: "Indian benchmark indices were volatile in trade before closing flat with a positive bias. Global cues were also positive while gold again jumped to record highs. Positive earnings reports are driving stocks and markets around the world, and the same trend is visible in the Indian markets too."

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul settled with gains, while Tokyo closed lower. Stock exchanges in Europe were trading on a positive note in early deals.

Liquidity is a major driver for the markets and it is chasing companies which are declaring stable earnings or outlook. Uncertainties remain while markets will in the near term look forward to the commentary and RBI actions at the end of the MPC meeting tomorrow, Nair added Global oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 2.09 per cent to $45.36 per barrel.