Sensex up 49 pts on good corporate earnings, global mkts

In all, 16 of the 30 Sensex stocks closed higher, led by auto, capital goods, banks and refinery sectors. HDFC, ICICI, M&M, Sterlite and ITC made strong gains.

Analysts attributed listless trading to the last day of settlement in derivatives contracts for October as investors rolled over their positions to the next month's series.

They said investors were awaiting the outcome of the Reserve Bank's monetary policy meeting next week.

The Sensex moved in a very narrow range of nearly 91 points before concluding at 18,758.63, up 48.61 points or 0.26 per cent. On Tuesday, it had fallen by 83.42 points or 0.44 per cent. Markets remained closed yesterday for Dussehra.

Similarly, the NSE's 50-issue index, Nifty, gained 13.90 points or 0.24 per cent at 5,705.30.

"The market closed on a positive note today on the settlement day, which is a sign of consolidation. Besides, corporate earnings so far have beaten analysts' estimate. Now, all eyes are on the RBI action on October 30," CNI Research CMD Kishor Ostwal said.

Sustained capital inflows also aided the gain. FIIs bought shares worth Rs 252.40 crore on October 23 as per provisional data with stock exchanges.

M&M was the top gainer from the Sensex pack. It reported 22.3 per cent increase in standalone profit after tax at Rs 901.8 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2012 on the back of good sales. MORE