Mkts end flat as investors turn cautious ahead of RBI meet

Mumbai: Equity indices stayed on the back foot for the second straight session on Monday as investors remained cautious amid unabated selling by foreign funds and elevated crude oil prices ahead of the RBI's policy decision later this week.

After tumbling over 450 points in early trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex clawed back some lost ground to end at 55,675.32, down 93.91 points or 0.17 per cent. On similar lines, the broader NSE Nifty dipped 14.75 points or 0.09 per cent to finish at 16,569.55. Asian Paints was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, tumbling 2.36 per cent, followed by UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finserv, Nestle India, L&T, Axis Bank, Dr Reddy's and HUL. In contrast, Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank, M&M, ITC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Infosys and ICICI Bank were among the gainers, rising up to 0.99 per cent.

The market breadth was negative, with 21 of the 30 Sensex components closing with losses. "Indian markets opened in negative following mixed Asian market cues. During the afternoon session, markets trimmed their losses and traded in neutral to marginally in green. Markets continued to trade indecisively ahead of the RBI's monetary policy meet this week," said Narendra Solanki - Head- Equity Research (Fundamental), Anand Rathi Shares & Stock Brokers.

The RBI's rate-setting panel MPC on Monday began its three-day deliberations amid expectations of another hike in benchmark interest rates to contain inflation that continues to remain above the central bank's upper tolerance level. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das will announce the decision of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Wednesday. "Basically, the market has been exercising caution ahead of the credit policy announcement this week, and hence investors trimmed their position in rate-sensitive sectors such as realty," said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd. In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge declined 0.54 per cent while the midcap index dropped 0.15 per cent. Among BSE sectoral indices, realty fell by 0.87 per cent, followed by consumer discretionary goods & services (0.79 per cent), capital goods (0.53 per cent) and telecom (0.31 per cent). The gainers included metal (0.72 per cent), oil and gas (0.50 per cent) and energy (0.41 per cent).

Global stocks were steady ahead of a flurry of central bank meetings, including that of the European Central Bank on Thursday and the US Federal Reserve next week. Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended in the green. Bourses in Europe were trading higher during afternoon trade.

Wall Street had ended lower on Friday. Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.61 per cent to $120.4 per barrel. The rupee inched up 2 paise to close at 77.64 against the US dollar on Monday, tracking a weak American currency in the overseas market. Continuing in selling mode, foreign institutional investors offloaded shares worth a net Rs 3,770.51 crore on Friday, according to stock exchange data.