MUMBAI— Indian stock markets ended Wednesday’s session with modest gains after a day of choppy trading, as investors stayed cautious amid ongoing corporate earnings reports and uncertainty over a potential India-U.S. trade agreement.
The Sensex recovered from early losses to close at 82,634.48, up 63.57 points or 0.08 percent. The broader Nifty index ended nearly flat at 25,212.05, up just 16.25 points or 0.06 percent.
“The Nifty continues to face resistance at the critical level of 25,260, which represents the 38.20 percent Fibonacci retracement of the recent decline from 25,669 — signaling indecision at higher levels,” said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities.
He noted that the index is still holding above its 50-day moving average (50DMA), indicating a positive short-term trend.
Among Sensex stocks, top laggards included Eicher Motors, Sun Pharma, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, and Bajaj Finance, which fell as much as 1.6 percent. Meanwhile, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tech Mahindra, State Bank of India, Infosys, and Adani Ports led the gainers.
In the broader markets, the NSE Midcap 100 ended flat with a slight positive tilt, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 gained just 0.03 percent.
The standout performer among sectoral indices was Nifty PSU Bank, which surged 1.81 percent. Stocks like Punjab National Bank, Punjab & Sind Bank, Canara Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, SBI, Indian Bank, and Union Bank of India all rose more than 1 percent.
Other sectors such as IT, auto, banking, energy, FMCG, real estate, oil & gas, and consumer durables also closed in the green. However, financial services, metals, and pharma stocks ended lower.
Market volatility eased, with the India VIX falling 2.09 percent to 11.24.
The Indian rupee saw significant fluctuations, initially weakening against the stronger U.S. dollar before recovering midway through the session, supported by dollar inflows.
This came after a three-day consolidation phase for the USD-INR pair, which has been trading between 85.70 and 86.05.
“Sentiment continues to favor the dollar, bolstered by expectations of a hawkish Federal Reserve following the latest U.S. inflation data and ongoing uncertainty surrounding India-U.S. trade discussions,” said Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst at HDFC Securities.
“In the near term, we expect the USD-INR pair to remain rangebound between 85.50 and 86.30,” he added. (Source: IANS)
