Giving brake to the three-day winning streak, the domestic benchmark settled near the flat line on Tuesday, March 2, weighed by a decline in technology and financial services stocks after a recent rally.
Benchmark equity indices snapped a three-day winning streak to close marginally lower on Tuesday.
BSE Sensex declined 111 points, or 0.15 percent, to finish at 73,904. The NSE Nifty fell nine points, or 0.04 percent, to settle at 22,453.
In the forex market, the rupee ended marginally lower at 83 rupees and 39 paise against the US dollar today.
At the Multi Commodity Exchange, Gold futures for June contracts were trading around 68,725 rupees per ten grams. Silver futures for May contracts were trading around 76,517 rupees per kilogram when reports last came in.
In intra-day trade, Brent crude was trading at 89 dollars and two cents per barrel.
Hero MotoCorp, Kotak Bank, HCL Tech, ICICI Bank, and SBI Life were the top losers on the Nifty50, while notable gainers included Tata Consumer Products, M&M, BPCL, Bajaj Auto, and Adani Ports.
“The domestic market took a breather today after achieving a fresh record high yesterday. Factors such as a rising dollar, increasing US bond yields, and a notable uptick in crude oil prices collectively dampened investor sentiment,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said.
Nifty Bank settled flat at 47,545.45, down 0.07 per cent, or 32.8 points.
Meanwhile, barring the Nifty 50, all broad market indices settled in green. The Nifty Midcap100 ended 1.16 per cent higher, while the Nifty Smallcap100 jumped 1.22 per cent.
“Moreover, better-than-expected US manufacturing data raised worries about a potential delay in interest rate cuts. Despite these factors, mid- and small-cap stocks continued their recovery rally, although concerns about high valuations lingered,” Nair added.
“Investors are eagerly anticipating guidance from the upcoming RBI monetary policy announcement for insight into near-term market direction,” the expert further said.
Besides, the first policy meeting for FY25 of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) rate-setting panel is scheduled from April 3 to April 5.
Global Market
European stocks rose to a new all-time high on Tuesday, and the dollar held firm as traders reduced their expectations for US Federal Reserve rate cuts and waited for euro zone inflation data to give clues about the European Central Bank’s path.
Data on Monday showed US manufacturing grew for the first time in 1-1/2 years in March as production rebounded sharply and new orders increased, highlighting the strength of the economy and raising doubts about whether the Fed could actually deliver the three interest rate cuts outlined in its latest forecast.