Bourses close almost flat amid volatile trade

Mumbai: Benchmark Sensex trimmed early gains to close marginally higher while Nifty settled flat in choppy trade on Tuesday as gains in auto shares were offset by selling pressure in banking and energy

shares.

The 30-share BSE barometer closed slightly up by 37.08 points or 0.06 per cent to 60,978.75, with 15 of its stocks ending in green and the rest in red.

The index opened higher and gained over 300 points to a high of 61,266.06 in early trade.

The index, however, dropped over 400 points from the day’s high to touch a low of 60,849.12 due to selling in select counters.

The broader NSE Nifty closed flat at 18,118.30 with 29 of its shares ending in red and 21 in green. The 50-issue index touched a high of 18,201.25 and a low of 18,078.65 in the day trade.

In the broader market, BSE Midcap declined 0.3 per cent to 25,038.24 and Smallcap dropped 0.43 per cent to 28,422.45.

Among sectoral indices, BSE Metal fell by 1.21 per cent, Healthcare by 1.01 per cent, Realty by 0.95 per cent, Utilities by 0.82 per cent, Power by 0.78 per cent and capital goods by 0.75 per cent.

On the other hand, BSE Auto gained 1.17 per cent, IT by 0.66 per cent, Consumer Discretionary by 0.71 per cent and Consumer Durables by 0.51 per cent.

Asian stock markets were also higher following overnight gains in US markets on expectations that the Federal Reserve will trim its rate hikes to tamp down inflation.

European stocks were mixed as the CAC 40 in Paris gained 0.2 per cent, Britain’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.4 per cent and Germany’s DAX edged 0.1 per cent lower.

Brent crude, the pricing benchmark for international trading, declined by 0.7 per cent to $87.57 per barrel.

The rupee fell 28 paise to close at 81.70 against the US dollar on Tuesday as unabated foreign fund outflow hit market sentiments.