India’s benchmark indices closed nearly flat on Tuesday, with the BSE Sensex down 69.86 points, or 0.09 per cent, at 76,765.92.
The Nifty 50 slipped 10.60 points, a decline of 0.04 per cent, to end the session at 23,985.35.
Bank Nifty fell more sharply, losing 331.60 points, or 0.58 per cent, to close at 56,755.60.
IT stocks were the day’s biggest gainers, with the Nifty IT index jumping 3.32 per cent on the back of strong performances from TCS and Tech Mahindra.
Hindustan Unilever was the standout loser, falling nearly 7 per cent after its quarterly results missed market expectations.
Coal India dropped more than 4 per cent following a weaker-than-expected quarterly profit, blamed on lower production volumes and higher operating costs. Bharat Electronics also featured among the top losers.
The Nifty Midcap index rose 0.08 per cent, while the Nifty Smallcap index eased 0.22 per cent in the broader market.
The flat close followed Monday’s sharp rally, when the Sensex and Nifty snapped a five-day losing run on the back of falling crude oil prices.
Market participants said the earnings season remained a key driver of stock-specific moves this week, with several large companies due to report their quarterly results in the coming days.
The day also marked the monthly expiry for Nifty futures and options contracts, which analysts said contributed to range-bound trading through large parts of the session.
Foreign institutional investors have been closely watched in recent sessions, with their buying or selling activity often cited as a factor behind the market’s day-to-day direction.
Hindustan Unilever’s fall came after the company reported quarterly numbers that fell short of analyst estimates, with investors reacting sharply to the miss given the stock’s weight in the consumer goods space within the benchmark indices.
The rally in IT stocks was broad-based, with several other companies in the sector also posting gains during the session, as investors responded positively to the outlook shared by some of the larger firms during recent earnings updates.
(Image: Niyantha Shekhar (CC BY 2.0))
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