Late buying pares early losses

Mumbai: Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty rebounded from early lows to close marginally up on Tuesday following fag-end buying in oil and gas, IT and auto stocks amid a recovery in global equities.

Posting gains for a fourth session in a row, the 30-share BSE Sensex settled up 16.17 points or 0.03 per cent at 53,177.45. The index opened lower and dropped nearly 390 points to hit a low of 52,771.53 points due to persistent FII selling and weak global trends. However, a late recovery in Asian markets and early gains in European exchanges helped the index cut losses.

The index recovered by nearly 405 points from the day's low to end with gains. The NSE Nifty gained 18.15 points or 0.11 per cent to 15,850.20. It hit a low of 15,710.15 and a high of 15,892.10 during the day. As many as 32 of its constituents advanced while 17 declined. "After a gap down opening, domestic indices were lifted by positive global peers, while oil prices rose over renewed supply concerns. The weakened rupee and rising bond yields limited domestic investors' risk appetite. Gains in commodity-linked stocks and optimism over easing Covid restrictions in China aided the global up-move," said Vinod Nair, head (research) at Geojit Financial Services.

"Markets witnessed a roller coaster ride in intra-day trade, but selective buying in IT, metal, auto and oil & gas stocks helped the key benchmark indices recover at fag-end to log modest gains. Early upturn in European markets and recovery in other Asian gauges also provided an impetus to local markets," said Shrikant Chouhan, head (equity research-retail), Kotak Securities Ltd.

"Markets ended almost unchanged in a volatile trading session tracking mixed cues. The Nifty settled around the day's high to close at 15,850 levels," adds Ajit Mishra, V-P (research), Religare Broking Ltd.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital market, as they sold shares worth Rs 1,278.42 crore on Monday, as per exchange data.