Markets give up gains in the last 1 hour

30 Apr 2024 , 06:30 PM

Indian benchmark indices halted their upward momentum on Tuesday as investors exercised caution ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy decision meeting scheduled for Wednesday. Corporate results for the March quarter, till now, have come mixed.

The Sensex commenced the day on a positive note, opening at 74,800.89, and reached an intraday high of 75,111.39. However, it relinquished its gains, touching a low of 74,351.68 by the close of trading. Ultimately, the Sensex concluded the day with a loss of 188.50 points, or 0.25%, settling at 74,482.78.

Similarly, the Nifty commenced higher at 22,679.65 and touched an intraday high of 22,783.35 before retracting to a low of 22,568.40. The Nifty 50 ended the day down by 38.55 points, or 0.17%, at 22,604.85.

Of the 30 stocks on the Sensex, 12 closed in negative territory. Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Sun Pharma, and HCLTech were among the top laggards, while Mahindra & Mahindra, Power Grid Corp., IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finserv, and Bajaj Finance emerged as the top gainers.

Half of the stocks on the Nifty 50 concluded the day in the red, with Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel, Dr Reddy's, Sun Pharma, and HCLTech leading the declines. Conversely, Mahindra & Mahindra, Power Grid Corp., Shriram Finance, Hero MotoCorp, and Bajaj Auto were among the top gainers.

Despite the downturn in benchmark indices, broader market indices fared well, closing in positive territory. The BSE MidCap index rose by 0.49%, while the BSE SmallCap index increased by 0.10%.

In terms of sectoral performance, more than half of the sectoral indices ended the day lower. The IT, Media, and Metal indices were the top losers, declining by 1.13%, 1.02%, and 1%, respectively. Conversely, the Auto index recorded the highest gains, rising by 1.82%, followed by the Realty index, which increased by 1.45%.

Meanwhile, the Financial Services index closed up by 0.14%, while the Consumer Durables index edged higher by 0.23%. However, the Bank index closed marginally lower by 0.06%, and the Pharma and Healthcare indices saw declines of 0.66% and 0.58%, respectively. Additionally, the Oil & Gas index ended the day down by 0.61%.