Indian shares ended flat today amid a volatile session. Investors booked profit at higher levels ahead of RBI policy announcement tomorrow. The NSE Nifty 50 index, which had risen as much as 1%, ended 0.06% higher at 11,101.65. The S&P BSE Sensex closed 0.07% lower at 37,663.33, The index pared gains after heavyweights Reliance Industries and HDFC Bank turned negative to end roughly 1% lower.
The Sensex had surged around 750 points in the previous session, boosted by 7% jump in RIL.
Today, metal stocks were in the limelight with Hindalco jumping 8.3% and state-run Steel Authority of India Ltd rising 6.2%
On Tuesday, SAIL reported a 50% jump in July sales, while Jindal Steel & Power saw steel sales rise 29%.
Interestingly, the broader markets managed to end with BSE midcap and smallcap indices eking out decent gains in the range of 0.4-0.9%.
Around two-thirds of economists in a Reuters poll expect the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to cut the repo rate by another 25 basis points (bps) tomorrow despite inflationary pressure.
Here is what analysts said on today’s market performance:
Ajit Mishra, VP – Research, Religare Broking Ltd
“Markets ended almost flat amid volatility as participants preferred to book some profit at higher levels. Initially, firm global cues led an upbeat start and follow up buying in the select index majors pushed the index higher in the early trades. However, caution ahead of the RBI meeting outcome triggered profit-taking as the day progressed, which eliminated all the gains.
Participants are keeping a close eye on RBI monetary policy outcome which is scheduled tomorrow and that would set the tone for the rest of the day as well. While the expectations are mixed on key rates, we feel commentary on the moratorium and future outlook would hold importance. We would suggest maintaining extra caution before the event and advise preferring hedged bets.”
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
“Indian benchmark indices were volatile in trade before closing flat with a positive bias. Global cues were also positive while gold again jumped to record highs. Liquidity is a major driver for the markets and it is chasing companies which are declaring stable earnings or outlook. Uncertainties remain while in the near term markets will look forward to the commentary and RBI actions at the end of the MPC meeting tomorrow.”
Manish Hathiramani, Index Trader and Technical Analyst, Deen Dayal Investments
“The Nifty failed to close above 11,200 and hence the short term bearish trend continues. On the other hand, we did not break 11,000 either. So we might be range bound for a couple of sessions. If we can break 11000 we could see 10700-10800.”
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