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Markets end flat; Bank Nifty up 1%
Markets closed in the positive territory for the day as gains in financials helped the benchmark indices to recover some of the lost ground due to profit taking in IT heavyweights.
Bank shares gained ahead of the Policy on January 28, on hopes that the Reserve Bank of India will keep interest rates unchanged after inflation cooled last month.
At close, the Sensex was up 46 points at 21,251 and the Nifty gained 10 points to end a tad above the 6,300 mark at 6,313.
Earlier in the day, markets started on a positive note tracking firm Asian markets and gains in financials.
However, profit taking in IT scrips and weakness in index heavyweight, Reliance Industries weighed on the indices and the benchmark indices briefly dipped into the negative territory.
The Sensex touched an intra-day high of 21,302 and slipped to a low of 21,189.
Meanwhile, the broader markets outperformed with both the mid and smallcap indices up 0.4% each as compared to the 0.2% rise seen on the BSE benchmark index.
On the sectoral front, Power, Oil & Gas, Teck and IT indices were down 0.5-0.6%. FMCG and Health Care indices gave off 0.3% and 0.1% respectively.
Banking index up 1.6% was the top gainer followed by Capital Goods, Realty, Metal, Consumer Durables and Auto indices gained 0.5-0.9%.
The Bank Nifty closed up 1% above its 200 DMA after 11 trading sessions. ICICI Bank up 3.3% was the top Sensex gainer along with Axis Bank, SBI and HDFC Bank up 1-2.5%.
Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Sesa Sterlite, Maruti Suzuki, L&T and Hindustan Unilever up 1-2.7% were the other notable gainers.
After a sharp runup, profit taking in TCS and Coal India dragged the scrips lower by 2.5% each.
BHEL, Gail India, Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel, Tata Power, NTPC, Hero MotoCorp, Cipla and Reliance Industries were down 0.6-2%.
The market breadth was positive on BSE. 1,375 stocks advanced while 1,251 stocks declined.
Global Markets
The Nikkei average gained 1% on Tuesday, recouping most of its losses suffered over the past three trading days, as investors bought back stocks on hopes that Japanese corporate earnings will be strong.
The Nikkei ended 154.28 points higher at 15,795.96, recovering from a one-week low marked on Monday.
China shares rebounded from a six-month low on Tuesday, lifting Hong Kong markets, as cash rates eased in the mainland after the Chinese central bank offered emergency funds to ease the latest cash squeeze.
The Hang Seng Index gained 0.4% to 23,033 and the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.9% to creep back above the much-watched 2,000-point level at 2,008 points.
European shares hit fresh 5-1/2 year highs on Tuesday, tracking Asian shares higher as Chinese money rates eased, while the dollar got a boost from a report the Federal Reserve would again trim its bond buying next week. FTSE was up 0.1% and CAC and DAX were up 0.4% each.
