New Delhi– Erasing the opening session losses, India’s key equity indices — Sensex and Nifty — settled sharply higher on Tuesday.

Sensex settled 1.2 per cent or 697 points up at 57,989 points, whereas Nifty 1.2 per cent or 198 points up at 17,315 points.

“The domestic market started with a negative bias taking cues from rising crude prices and hawkish signals from Fed on aggressive policy tightening,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

However, the trend reversed later in the day as European markets opened on a positive note buoyed by hope that Ukraine may consider working towards a truce, Nair said.

Among the stocks, Tech Mahindra, BPCL, Tata Motors, Reliance Industries, and Bajaj Finserv were the top five gainers among the Nifty 50 companies, rising 4.2 per cent, 3.0 per cent, 3.0 per cent, 2.5 per cent, and 2.4 per cent, respectively.

On the other hand, Hindustan Unilever, Nestle India, Britannia, Cipla, and Eicher Motors were the top losers.

“We believe inflation may be a concern for investors in the near term so investors should focus on quality stocks with strong growth visibility and where the rise of commodity prices have minimal impact on their business,” said Mohit Nigam, Head – PMS at Hem Securities. (IANS)