BSE Sensex ends with mild gains; Bajaj Auto, M&M rise

By Abhishek Vishnoi

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex ended with mild gains on Tuesday after earlier rising nearly 1 percent, reversing a two-day losing streak, on value buying in beaten down rate-sensitive shares, while the Nifty found support around its 200-day moving average.

However, dealers said selling by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) in Indian stocks on Monday, weighed on shares at higher levels.

FIIs sold Indian shares worth of 805.7 million rupees on Monday, snapping their five-day buying streak. They had bought around 127 billion rupees worth of Indian shares over the previous 12 sessions till Friday, regulatory data showed.

Despite Tuesday's gains, the overall trend remained weak due to lack of positive triggers in the near term, while the expiry of equity derivatives contracts on Thursday was expected to increase the volatility, dealers added.

"Markets may remain jittery and nervous in the short term as domestic data points remain weak, while election will take prominence over reforms," said Phani Sekhar, a fund manager at Angel Broking.

The benchmark BSE Sensex edged up 0.1 percent, or 19.25 points, to end at 19,920.21.

The broader Nifty inched up 0.05 percent, or 2.70 points, to end at 5,892.45, after earlier taking support around its 200-day moving average at 5,841.

Among lenders, Housing Development Finance Corp Ltd rose 1.6 percent, while ICICI Bank Ltd gained 0.2 percent.

In auto shares, Bajaj Auto Ltd rose 2.7 percent, while Maruti Suzuki India Ltd advanced 0.7 percent.

Tata Motors Ltd rose 1 percent, while Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd gained 1.2 percent.

Kingfisher Airlines Ltd , which has been grounded for almost a year for want of cash, surged 9.7 percent after Chairman Vijay Mallya said on Tuesday it was in talks with a foreign investor for a potential stake sale.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd rose 1.5 percent after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a key drug for the company, while Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd fell 0.3 percent as former's drug was seen negative for its unit Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd .

State Bank of India, the country's largest lender, also fell 0.6 percent after ratings agency Moody's downgraded its outlook on the bank's financial strength rating to 'negative' from 'stable'.

(Editing by Anand Basu)