Sensex ends flat after volatile trade, holds 52k; IT stks dip, metals shine

Stock market updates: A sharp downtick in private bank and IT stocks dragged the domestic indices lower on Tuesday even as PSU banks and metal stocks continued their northward march. From its fresh record high level of 52,517, hit earlier today, the S&P BSE Sensex tanked 650 points to hit a low of 51,864. The index, however, settled at 52,104 levels, down 50 points or 0.1 per cent.

The NSE's Nifty50, on the other hand, managed to hold the 15,300 level and ended at 15,313, down 1.25 points or 0.01 per cent. The index hit fresh lifetime high of 15,432 in the morning trade today. 

PowerGrid, ONGC, NTPC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Maruti Suzuki, and Reliance Industries, up between 1 per cent and 6 per cent, were the top gainers on the Sensex while Tata Steel, Hindalco, and Adani Ports were the additional gainers on the Nifty index. On the downside, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Infosys, Eicher Motors, SBI, HUL, and TCS nursed losses on these indices.

The broader markets ended higher today with the S&P BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices settling 0.2 per cent and 0.43 per cent up, respectively.

On the sectoral front, the Nifty IT index turned out to be the worst performer, down 1.6 per cent at close. That apart, the Nifty Bank index (down 0.8 per cent) and the Nifty Private Bank and FMCG indices (down 0.7 per cent each) were the other losers. On the contrary, the Nifty Metal index ended about 3 per cent higher today.

Global markets

Asian shares rallied on Tuesday, setting the stage for world equities to extend their bull run for a 12th consecutive session. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan shot up 0.62 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei rose 1.4 per cent to a 30-year high.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index rose 1.4 per cent to hit a 32-month high, while Australia's S&P/ASX200 gained 0.7 per cent for the session.

In Europe, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.2 per cent while Germany’s DAX traded flat.

(With inputs from Reuters)