Banking, fin stocks support key indices

Mumbai: Domestic bourses recorded narrow range of movements on Tuesday as telecom stocks put pressure, while banking, financial, consumer durable sectors supported the key indices.

BSE Sensex and Nifty rose for the fourth straight session and closed near five-month high. Nifty50 reclaimed its 8,900 level for the first time since September 9, 2016.

Nifty moved up 28.65 points or 0.32 per cent to 8,907.85 points. BSE Sensex was up 100.01 points or 0.35 per cent to 28,761.59 points. Indices pared losses to trade higher in the last leg of trade led by consumer durables, banking and oil & gas indices.

Brokers said long positions built up by participants, including foreign funds, and covering-up of short positions ahead of February month's derivatives expiry on Thursday added to the momentum.

Telecom stocks came under selling pressure. Led by Airtel, which lost four per cent, telecom stocks suffered selling pressure after Reliance Jio Chairman Mukesh Ambani announced a slew of offers, including 20 per cent more data than any rival from April.

Shares of Bharti Airtel declined by 4.02 per cent to end at Rs 360.55. Out of the 3,007 traded stocks, 1,552 gained, 1,271 declined and 184 remained unchanged on BSE.

Meanwhile, Asian shares were trading largely flat after a holiday in US markets. Asian stock markets were mixed as investors awaited minutes from the US Federal Reserve's latest meeting and Wall Street prepared to reopen after a three-day weekend.