Nifty, Sensex End Little Changed Amid Volatility: Market Wrap

Benchmark equity indices ended little changed on Wednesday as traders exercised caution a day ahead of the RBI's monetary policy decision.

The NSE Nifty 50 settled 1.10 points or 0.01%, higher at 21,930.50, while the S&P BSE Sensex fell 34.09 points or 0.05%, to 72,152.

During the day, the Nifty rose as much as 0.56% to 22,053.30 and the Sensex gained 0.52% to 72,559.21.

The indices slipped into the negative zone due to profit-taking in IT and select financial shares during intraday trades, according to Avdhut Bagkar, technical and derivatives analyst at StoxBox. "Banks and financials topped the gainers list."

Investors will keep an eye on the monetary policy committee's decision on interest rates. Several developments have unfolded in recent weeks that could shape the verdict, Bagkar said.

The indices witnessed range-bound activity and after a gap-up opening, the markets witnessed intraday selling pressure at higher levels, Shrikant Chouhan, head of equity research at Kotak Securities, said. "However, the short-term texture of the market is still on the positive side."

"We are of the view that, on intraday and daily charts, the market is still holding higher bottom formation, which supports further uptrends from the current levels," Chouhan said.

"For day traders now, 21,850/72,000 would act as a key support level. Above the same, the market could rally till 22,100–22,150/72,500–72,700. On the flip side below 21,850/72,000, we could see one quick intraday correction till 21,800–21,750/71,800–71,650," he said.

Reliance Industries Ltd., State Bank of India, Axis Bank Ltd., Bajaj Finance Ltd. and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. added positively to the indices.

Infosys Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Larsen & Toubro Ltd. and ICICI Bank Ltd. weighed on the indices.

On the NSE, 10 sectors ended higher, one ended lower and another remained flat.

The Nifty PSU Bank rose 2.86% to a record high and was the top gainer among the sectoral indices. The Nifty IT index declined the most.

The broader markets ended higher as the BSE Midcap rose 1.48% and the Smallcap rose 0.35%.

Sixteen out the 20 sectors on the BSE advanced, with Realty gaining the most and Information Technology falling the most.

The market breadth was skewed in favour of buyers as 2,261 stocks gained, 1,606 fell and 92 remained unchanged on the BSE.