Market rules firm for 2nd day as RBI meet gets under way

The market let go of its early leads, but ruled firm for the second day today in a cautious trade ahead of RBI policy announcement tomorrow amid positive Asian cues.
The 30-share Sensex opened on a positive note on across-the-board gains, but higher levels could not be sustained due to profit-booking towards the close, with the index closing marginally higher by 43.66, or 0.17 per cent, at 26,392.76.
The gauge gained 118 points in the previous volatile session yesterday in anticipation of a rate cut by RBI.
The broader NSE Nifty gained 14.40 points, or 0.18 per cent, to end at 8,143.15, after moving between 8,178.70 and 8,130.85.

Another record close on US stock exchanges and positive Asian indices provided much support as investors shrugged off Italian referendum outcome that led to the resignation of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.
Back home, the rupee appreciated 31 paise against the dollar to 67.90, which had a positive bearing too.

"Key benchmark indices traded the day in a narrow, albeit positive range, to close the day near the flat line. Positive leads from Asian markets and an overnight rally on the Wall Street positively impacted sentiment in India," said Karthikraj Lakshmanan, Senior Fund Manager - Equities, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund.
Emergence of profit-booking by speculators at improved levels in the last half an hour of trading dragged the key indices down from the day's high by wiping out the session's big gains.

Brokers said that as the Reserve Bank is expected to lower policy rates tomorrow, some investors widened their bets, contributing to the gains.
As many as 18 components of the 30-share Sensex pack ran up while 12 led by Hind Unilever and Maruti Suzuki lost and capped the gains. Major gainers were HDFC (2.07 per cent), Tata Steel (1.16 per cent), ONGC (1.08 per cent) and Adani Ports (1.04 per cent).
Foreign portfolio investors offloaded shares worth net Rs 317.85 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.
Among the BSE sectoral indices, realty rose 1.73 per cent, followed by oil and gas 1.17 per cent.

The broader market outperformed the Sensex, with the BSE mid-cap ending up 0.52 per cent and small-cap 0.41 per cent.
Asian markets led by Tokyo closed higher, tracking a strong lead from the Wall Street where markets rallied to another record in the wake of strong US economic data. Japan's Nikkei rose 0.47 per cent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.75 per cent. China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.16 per cent.
Dr Reddy's, Cipla, ONGC, Coal India, PowerGrid and SBI,
succumbed to profit-booking and lost some ground though.
The US payrolls data showed that jobs jumped more than expected in January as construction firms and retailers ramped up hiring, but wages growth still slowed.

The market breadth was in the green as 1,847 shares ended higher, 1,054 closed lower while 161 ruled steady.
As for the total turnover on BSE, the figure came in at Rs 4,037.41 crore, up from Rs 3,523.71 crore during the previous session.
"Better than expected third quarter results are keeping the current momentum strong," added Nair.