Mumbai, May 22 (IANS) Attractive valuations, along with healthy quarterly results supported the key Indian equity indices closed Tuesday's volatile trade session on a positive note after five consecutive days of decline.
After opening on a negative note, the indices rose to intra-day high levels in the early hours of trade, before ceding most of their gains due to weakness in global markets and rise in crude oil prices.
Index-wise, the broader Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed at 10,536.70 points -- up by 20 points or 0.19 per cent -- from its previous close of 10,516.70.
The barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE, which had opened at 34,601.49 points, closed higher by 35.11 points or 0.1 per cent, at 34,651.24 points.
The Sensex touched a high of 34,754.60 points and a low of 34,550.22 points during the intra-day trade.
"After a choppy morning trade, indices firmed up in the afternoon and managed to settle with small gains," said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities.
Jasani further told IANS: "Broad market indices like the BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices gained more, thereby outperforming the main indices."
Both the S&P BSE mid-cap and small-cap ended 0.65 per cent from their respective previous closing levels.
Consequently, the BSE market breadth was tilted towards the bulls with 1,405 advances against 1,219 declines. On the NSE, too, the market breadth was positive.
On the currency front, the Indian rupee strengthened by eight paise against the US dollar to 68.05, from its previous close at 68.13 per greenback.
In terms of investments, provisional data with the exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors sold scrips worth Rs 1,651.63 crore, while the domestic institutional investors bought stocks worth Rs 1,496.83 crore.
Sector-wise, the S&P BSE auto index rose the most, by 413.76 points, followed by the metal index which increased by 211.32 points and the healthcare index that ended 143.12 higher from its previous close.
On the other hand, the S&P BSE oil and gas index fell by 59.23 points, followed by the energy index, which ended 11.10 points lower and the FMCG index that fell by 10.97 points.
On the NSE, according to BNP Paribas Mutual Fund's Senior Fund Manager for Equities, Abhijeet Dey, barring the FMCG index, which closed in the red, all other sectoral indices closed the trading day in the positive zone.
Dey further said, auto stocks gained the most among the sectors due to expectation that China may cut import duty on passenger cars.
The major gainers on the Sensex were Dr Reddy's Lab, up 6.30 per cent at Rs 2,013.75; Bajaj Auto, up 3.86 per cent at Rs 2,825; Tata Motors, up 3.78 per cent at Rs 307.75; State Bank of India, up 3.69 per cent at Rs 254.15; and Coal India, up 3.23 per cent at Rs 278.45 per share.
The top losers were Tata Consultancy Services, down 1.40 per cent at Rs 3,508.05; Asian Paints, down 1.27 per cent at Rs 1,283.5; Axis Bank, down 1.27 per cent at Rs 522; IndusInd Bank, down 1.19 per cent at Rs 1,898.50; and ITC, down 1.17 per cent at Rs 278.8 per share.
