The market closed flat in trade today after traders turned cautious tracking negative global cues ahead of the US Federal Reserve policy announcement scheduled later in the day. While the Sensex closed 16 points or 0.05 % higher at 35,176, Nifty fell 0.20% or 21.30 points to 10,718.
Earlier, the Sensex rose over 200 points in opening trade but pared most gains later in the day. Kotak Mahindra Bank (3.87%), ITC (2.03%) and Asian Paints (1.80%) were the top Sensex gainers.
Kotak Mahindra Bank was the top Nifty gainer too, closing 4.04% higher at 1260 level.
Kotak Mahindra Bank on April 30 posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 1,789.24 crore in its financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2018. This amounts to a 27 per cent increase in consolidated net profit on a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis for Indian private sector lender which reported the same at Rs 1,404.34 crore in the corresponding quarter the year before.
Tata Steel (3.30%), ICICI Bank (2.58%) and HUL (2.49%) were the top Sensex losers.
The HCL Technologies stock closed 4.79% or 50 points lower at 1001 on BSE after India's fourth largest IT services firm posted a 9.8 per cent decline in its consolidated net profit for the March 2018 quarter at Rs 2,230 crore and said it expects to see a "better deal pipeline" in FY19, driven by digital services.
The net profit is lower from Rs 2,474 crore reported in the year-ago period (as per Indian Accounting Standards) as there was a one-time benefit from tax reversal in the January-March 2017 quarter.
Brokers said investor sentiment was cautious ahead of US Federal Reserve's two-day policy meet outcome, as the central bank in March signalled that the path of future rate hikes could be "slightly steeper" over the next few years than previously thought.
The PC Jeweller stock closed 23.69% lower at 110.65 on BSE. The stock is the top loser on the index.
Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net of Rs 261.98 crore, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net of Rs 385.47 crore on Monday, provisional data showed.
Financial markets was shut yesterday on account of 'Maharashtra Day'.
Global markets
Shares were higher in Europe on Wednesday after a day of losses in most Asian markets. Investors are looking ahead to Federal Reserve meeting and to China-U.S. trade talks later in the week.
Germany's DAX added 1.2 percent to 12,756.54 and the CAC 40 of France gained 0.2 percent to 5,533.29. The FTSE 100 climbed 0.6 percent to 7,563.82. The future for the Dow Jones industrial average was flat at 24,072.00 while the future for the S&P 500 edged 0.1 percent higher.