Sensex, Nifty close higher; all eyes on US Fed policy meet

Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty Tuesday closed in the green on emergence of buying in metal, energy and IT counters, but gains were capped by a caution among investors ahead of the crucial US Federal Reserve meeting.

Snapping its four-day losing streak, the 30-share Sensex settled the day at 39,046.34, 0.22 per cent or 85.55 points higher. The index swung over 300 points in a highly volatile session.

Similarly, the 50-stock NSE Nifty ended at 11,691.50, up 0.17 per cent or 19.35 points.

Sentiments turned a bit optimistic towards the fag-end of the session in view of lower crude oil prices and strengthening rupee.

Top gainers in the Sensex pack included Vedanta, Coal India, PowerGrid, ICICI Bank, HCL Tech, Bajaj Finance and Infosys -- rising up to 2.47 per cent.

On the other hand, Yes Bank emerged as the biggest loser, cracking 5.94 per cent, followed by Maruti, Asian Paints, Sun Pharma and HDFC twins, shedding up to 2.20 per cent.

Shares of Jet Airways plummeted 40.48 per cent after State Bank of India-led consortium of lenders Monday decided to send the grounded Jet Airways to the National Company Law of Tribunal (NCLT) as they have not yet received any concrete proposal for the airline.

Sectorally, BSE oil and gas, teck, power, energy, metal and utilities rose up to 1.13 per cent, while BSE healthcare, auto and FMCG fell up to 0.55 per cent.

Broader BSE midcap index settled 0.08 per cent higher and BSE smallcap index fell 0.42 per cent.

Analysts opined that market is finding it difficult to sustain at elevated levels due to a host of reasons like muted corporate earnings, slow monsoon progress, concerns over corporate defaults and worries with regard to India-US trade disagreements.

"Today, market ended positive supported by ease in oil prices due to concern over global growth, trade-war and uncertainties in upcoming OPEC meeting. There was a hope that the weakening domestic market will be supported by fiscal and monetary measures. This hope is being tested today given continuous weak economic and monsoon data. Market will be careful during the ongoing FED meeting which is expected to provide a dovish," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said.

The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold interest rates after its policy meeting, even as President Donald Trump has been in favour of a rate cut.

Elsewhere in Asia, Nikkei ended significantly lower; while Hang Seng, Nikkei and Kospi settled on a positive note.

Stock exchanges in Europe were also trading in the green in early deals.

On the currency front, the Indian rupee appreciated 22 paise to 69.69 against the US dollar intra-day.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, slipped 0.64 per cent to USD 60.55 per barrel.