Mumbai, April 24 (IANS) Key Indian equity indices on Tuesday closed with humble gains riding on broadly positive global markets, coupled with expectations of healthy quarterly corporate earnings and healthy buying in oil and gas, banking and capital goods stocks.
Index heavyweights like Reliance Industries (RIL), Yes Bank, Adani Ports, Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M), and ICICI Bank were the top gainers on the BSE.
However, heavy selling pressure in metals, IT and consumer durables stocks, along with outflow of foreign funds and higher crude oil prices, trimmed some gains of the benchmark indices, market observers said.
On closing basis, the wider Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) edged higher by 29.65 points or 0.28 per cent from the last closing to 10,614.35 points.
The barometer 30-scrip Sensitive index (Sensex) of the BSE closed at 34,616.64 points -- up 165.87 points or 0.48 per cent from its previous session's close.
In contrast, the BSE market breadth remained bearish with 1,497 declines and 1,180 advances.
The broader markets underperformed the benchmark index, with the S&P BSE mid-cap index closing lower by 0.02 per cent and the small-cap index by 0.13 per cent.
"Markets ended with moderate gains on Tuesday after (the Nifty50) finding support at the 10,569 levels," Deepak Jasani, Head - Retail Research, HDFC Securities, told IANS.
"Major Asian markets have closed on a mixed note. European indices like FTSE 100 and DAX traded in the green," added Jasani.
On the currency front, the Indian rupee strengthened by 10 paise at 66.38 against the US dollar from its previous close at 66.48.
Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said: "Earnings positivity and buoyancy in the Asian and European peers led the market further higher, despite negative closing in the US towed by higher bond yields and fall in technology stocks."
"Brent testing the $75 mark and FIIs (foreign institutional investors)'s continuous selling in the equities ensured that upsides were capped. All eyes would now be on whether the government will cut excise duty to provide relief to common man or stick to fiscal prudence," he said.
In terms of investments, provisional data with the exchanges showed that FIIs sold scrip worth Rs 680.99 crore, while the domestic institutional investors purchased stocks worth Rs 508.55 crore.
Sector-wise, the S&P BSE oil and gas index rose by 215.36 points, followed by capital goods index by 123.98 points and banking stocks by 110.66 points.
On the other hand, the S&P BSE metal index declined by 265.55 points, IT index by 227.26 points and Teck (technology, media and entertainment) index by 104.52 points.
The major Sensex gainers on Tuesday were: RIL, up 3.70 per cent at Rs 969.75; Yes Bank, up 3.31 per cent at Rs 323.40; M&M, up 1.94 per cent at Rs 838.45; Adani Ports, up 1.74 per cent at Rs 391.95; and ICICI Bank, up 1.66 per cent at Rs 284.20.
The top losers were: Wipro, down 3.30 per cent at Rs 287.05; Infosys, down 2.49 per cent at Rs 1,153.90; Tata Steel, down 1.23 per cent at Rs 598.25; State Bank of India, down 0.87 per cent at Rs 240.60; and Tata Consultancy Services, down 0.87 per cent at Rs 3,385.65.
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