Mumbai– Profit bookings along with foreign fund outflows and subdued global cues dragged India’s key equity indices — S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 — lower on Tuesday.

The FIIs sold Rs 2,445.25 crore on the BSE, the NSE and the MSEI in the capital market segment during the day’s tarde.

Initially, the market opened on a flat note and remained range-bound for the session with a minor negative bias. Globally, world stock markets remained subdued post the passage of the infrastructure bill in the US.

On the domestic front, volumes on the NSE were in line with the recent averages, while the advance decline ratio was positive. Among sectors, capital goods, auto, telecom and oil and gas indices rose, whereas metals and banks fell.

Consequently, the 30-scrip Sensex closed at 60,433.45 points, down 112.16 points or 0.19 per cent from its previous close.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty50 ended the day’s trade on a lower note, falling to 18,044.25 points, down by 24.30 points or 0.13 per cent from its previous close.

“Nifty ended the day almost flat in line with most other markets. Nifty crossed the high of the previous day, but there was no follow through upmove. A move above the 18,115-18,125 band could lead to more upsides while 17,947-17,970 is a support band for the Nifty in the near term,” said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities.

According to Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services: “Equity markets opened positive but soon drifted into the red and remained volatile in a narrow range throughout the session on the back of mixed global cues and FIIs’ persistent selling.

“Going ahead, the market is likely to be range-bound given the mixed global cues, last leg of earnings season and slew of IPOs opening this week with Paytm, the biggest IPO ever, already opening for subscription since Monday.”

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said: “After a positive opening, the domestic market traded lower as private banking stocks were under pressure following dull global markets.

“However, auto, PSBs and consumer durables climbed against the market trend with small and mid-cap stocks outperforming. Despite the passage of the long-awaited infrastructure bill, the gains in the US market were capped as inves tors cautiously awaited the US inflation data.” (IANS)