MUMBAI– Indian equity benchmarks ended a choppy session in the red on Tuesday as profit booking erased early gains, with investors turning cautious ahead of the GST Council meeting and monthly F&O expiry.
The Sensex closed at 80,157.88, down 206.61 points or 0.26 percent. The 30-share index had opened higher at 80,520.09, buoyed by strong GST collection data and optimism around the SCO summit, and climbed to an intraday high of 80,761.14 before retreating into negative territory.
The Nifty ended at 24,569.60, down 45.45 points or 0.18 percent.
“Domestic equities reversed early gains from strong macro data, ending lower on profit booking amid caution ahead of the GST Council meeting and F&O expiry, with banking stocks leading the decline,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
Sugar stocks rallied after relaxed ethanol norms, while export-oriented companies gained following dovish remarks from the U.S., renewing trade optimism. Still, Nair noted that investors remain guarded, with near-term focus shifting toward domestic consumption against a backdrop of global uncertainty.
Among top gainers were Mahindra & Mahindra, ICICI Bank, Asian Paints, Kotak Bank, Tata Motors, Trent, Ultratech Cement, L&T, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, and Axis Bank. PowerGrid, NTPC, Tata Steel, Hindustan Unilever, BEL, Bajaj FinServ, Eternal, and ITC also closed higher.
Most sectoral indices slipped after staying in the green for much of the session. Nifty Auto lost 75 points or 0.29 percent, Nifty Bank shed 341 points or 0.63 percent, and Nifty Financial Services fell 170 points or 0.66 percent. Nifty IT closed flat, while Nifty FMCG rose 631 points or 1.12 percent.
In the broader market, Nifty Midcap gained 151.90 points or 0.27 percent, Nifty Smallcap 100 advanced 93 points or 0.53 percent, while Nifty 100 finished flat.
The rupee closed slightly stronger at 88.16, up 0.05, on optimism that GST rationalization could support consumption and partially offset tariff pressures.
“However, the dollar remained firm at 98.30, keeping overall pressure intact on emerging currencies, while crude trading at $65.95 may add some near-term weakness bias to the rupee,” said Jateen Trivedi of LKP Securities.
With foreign investors maintaining a cautious stance and continuing to sell, volatility is expected to persist. Trivedi pegged the near-term trading range for the rupee between 87.85 and 88.40. (Source: IANS)
