Equities trim gains, foreign funds' outflow subdues sentiments (Roundup)

Prolonged outflow of foreign funds and selling pressure on banking and FMCG stocks wiped off the morning gains and led the Indian equity markets to close on a flat-to-negative note on Tuesday.

However, positive European markets and healthy buying in consumer durables, IT, and oil and gas stocks limited the downslide.

The wider Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) inched lower by 4.05 points, or 0.04 per cent, to close at 9,653.50 points.

The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 31,392.53 points, closed at 31,297.53 points -- down 14.04 points, or 0.04 per cent, from its previous close at 31,311.57 points.

The Sensex touched a high of 31,392.53 and a low of 31,261.49 points during intra-day trade.

The BSE market breadth was bearish -- with 1,428 declines and 1,229 advances.

In terms of the broader markets, the BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices outperformed the Sensex. The S&P BSE mid-cap index was up 0.19 per cent and the small-cap index by 0.19 per cent.

"Markets ended flat after the rally seen on Monday. The Nifty reversed trend after hitting its highest intra-day level in 1-1/2 weeks in mid-morning trade," Deepak Jasani, Head - Retail Research, HDFC Securities, told IANS.

"Major Asian markets have ended on a mixed note. European indices like FTSE 100, CAC 40 and DAX traded higher."

On the currency front, the rupee weakened by seven paise to 64.50 to a US dollar from its previous close of 64.43.

In investments, provisional data with the exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold stocks worth Rs 312.84 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought scrips worth Rs 477.13 crore.

"Tata Motors shares rallied intra-day on buzz of initial public offering of Jaguar Land Rover that was bought by the company in 2008 for $2.4 billion," said Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls.

"Logistic stocks gained intra-day after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said GST roll out will be marked by an event at central hall of Parliament on night of June 30-July 1," he added.

Sector-wise, the S&P BSE banking index fell by 42.06 points, the FMCG index by 16.62 points, and the finance index by 14.15 points.

On the other hand, the S&P BSE consumer durables index rose by 154.62 points, the IT index by 96.15 points and the oil and gas index by 74.21 points.

Major Sensex gainers on Tuesday were: Tata Motors, up 3.28 per cent at Rs 467.15; Tata Motors (DVR), up 1.68 per cent at Rs 287.90; ONGC, up 1.60 per cent at Rs 168.70; Infosys, up 1.54 per cent at Rs 943.80; and Cipla, up 1.18 per cent at Rs 545.50.

Major Sensex losers were: Power Grid, down 2 per cent at Rs 208.15; Lupin, down 1.63 per cent at Rs 1,112.35; Axis Bank, down 1.56 per cent at Rs 511.80; HDFC, down 1.22 at Rs 1,633.45; and Hero MotoCorp, down 1.02 per cent at Rs 3,786.85.

--IANS

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