Equity indices close on a flat note, auto and PSU bank stocks underperform

Indian equities traded in a narrow range on Tuesday with auto and PSU bank stocks underperforming in a choppy session.

The BSE S & P Sensex closed 66 points higher at 39,750 while the Nifty 50 inched up 4 points from its previous close to settle at 11,929.

At the National Stock Exchange, sectoral indices were mixed. While Nifty IT, media, metal and realty gained marginally, the losers were bank, auto, financial service, FMCG and pharma.

Among stocks, Zee Entertainment gained over 5 per cent while Yes Bank was up 4.5 per cent.

Reliance Capital gained over 2 per cent to close at Rs 135.55 per share after it exercised the green-shoe option to sell over 8 per cent of its shareholding in Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management.

SpiceJet too gained more than 2 per cent at Rs 140.80 per piece after reporting profit of Rs 56 crore in Q4 FY19. Among the other gainers were IT major, Infosys, Coal India and Power Grid.

However, Punjab National Bank shed 3.5 per cent to close at Rs 86.20 after reporting a net loss of Rs 4,750 cr in Q4 FY19 due to higher provisioning for bad loans.

The other losers included Bharti Infratel, Bajaj Auto, Hero MotorCorp, Grasim and Ultra Cement.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks chalked up modest gains in thin trading. Equity benchmarks in Japan nudged higher but were muted by lower-than-usual trading volumes due to Monday market closures in the United States and Britain.

There was some relief though as EU election results eased concerns about political difficulties in the bloc.