Sensex, Nifty end flat in choppy session ahead of Fed minutes

The domestic equity markets ended flat in a volatile session on Tuesday as the prospects of the US central bank having to stay on its hawkish path weighed on sentiments. For further monetary policy clues, investors are awaiting the minutes of the latest US Federal Reserve meeting.

The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex declined 19 points or 0.03% to settle at 60,673. The broader NSE Nifty dropped 18 points or 0.10% to end at 17,827.

Among Sensex stocks, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, Wipro, TCS and UltraTech Cement were the top laggards, falling 1-1.5%. Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv and HCL Tech also ended lower. Meanwhile, NTPC, Tata Steel, Power Grid, Reliance and HDFC ended with gains.

Sector-wise, Nifty PSU Bank fell 1.79% and Nifty Realty declined 1.20%. Nifty Auto and Nifty IT also closed lower. In the broader market, Nifty Midcap50 dropped 0.43% and Smallcap50 fell 0.34%.

"Despite opening gains, negative cues from global peers cast a shadow over investor sentiments. Underpinned by inflationary concerns, the market is keenly eyeing the US fed meeting minutes, scheduled to be released tomorrow, for hints on further monetary policy tightening. Risk appetite was further hammered by FIIs turning net sellers and fear of El Nino," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Global markets
Asian shares were mostly lower Tuesday in quiet trading and US markets were closed on the occasion of Presidents’ Day. Tokyo's benchmark, the Nikkei 225, shed 0.2% to 27,465. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.2% to 7,336. South Korea's Kospi gained nearly 0.2% to 2,459. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dipped 1.6% to 20,562, while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.1% to 3,294.

UK's exporter-heavy FTSE 100 fell on Tuesday, dragged lower by HSBC after the London-headquartered bank dampened investors' expectations of a sustained income bonanza from rising interest rates worldwide. The blue-chip index was down 0.2%.

Crude price
Brent oil fell on Tuesday as concerns about a global economic slowdown that would reduce demand prompted investors to take profits on the previous day's gains, outweighing supply curbs.

Global benchmark Brent crude was down 0.32% to $82.98 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude was up 0.88% to $77.19 a barrel.

Rupee weakens
The rupee weakened 0.08% versus the dollar, and quoted at 82.79 per dollar, tracking similar movements in the dollar index, with Asian currencies declining ahead of the release of Fed minutes.

(With inputs from agencies)