The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Tuesday closed flat after they took a beating bogged by information technology (IT) shares. The domestic indices, however, pared their losses and staged a smart rebound in the last few minutes before closing. The S&P BSE Sensex ended 5 points higher at 62,793. On the other hand, the Nifty50 saw gains of 5 points at 18,599.


On the 30-share Sensex platform, Infosys, TechM, TCS, Wipro, Airtel, HCL, ICICI Bank were the losers. On the flipside, UltraCemco, Axis Bank, Kotak Bank, Tata Motors, Maruti, Bajaj Finance advanced.






In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap index rose 0.3 per cent and Smallcap index added 0.5 per cent.


Sectorwise, auto and realty gained 1 per cent, while information technology index shed 1.5 per cent.


The three-day issue of IKIO Lighting sailed through on the first day itself. The non-institutional investors' (NII) portion was subscribed nearly 2 times till 3:30 pm, followed by retail quota (1.35x), and QIB (29 per cent).


In the previous session on Monday, the S&P BSE Sensex it settled at 62,787, up 240 points, while the Nifty50 hit a high of 18,640 during the day before closing at 18,594, up 60 points.


"The domestic market experienced profit-booking due to selling pressure in the IT sector. IT stocks witnessed a decline in anticipation of further downward revision in spending. However, a rally in auto and banks helped to recover the losses. Going ahead an important influencer will be the commentary on growth and inflation forecasts by the RBI following its MPC meeting, given the general consensus that rate pause will continue," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.


In Asian markets, Tokyo ended in the green, while Shanghai and Hong Kong settled lower. Equity markets in Europe 
were trading in negative territory. The US markets ended lower on Monday.


Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 1.84 per cent to $75.33 a barrel.


Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 700.98 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.


Meanwhile, the rupee consolidated in a narrow range to settle just 1 paisa higher at 82.62 (provisional) against the US dollar on Tuesday amid a muted trend in domestic equities. The rupee is trading in a narrow range as market participants are vigilant ahead of the RBI's monetary policy later this week. The central bank is widely expected to leave the repo rate unchanged at 6.5 per cent.


A strengthening greenback in the international markets also kept pressure on the domestic unit, forex traders said. At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 82.56 against the US dollar and settled at 82.62 (provisional), up 1 paisa over its previous close.


During the day, the domestic unit witnessed an intra-day high of 82.56 and a low of 82.66. On Monday, the rupee closed at 82.63 against the US currency.


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