Nifty snaps two-day decline in choppy trading session

Mumbai: Nifty rebounded on Tuesday, snapping a two-day decline in a choppy trading session, said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities.

While the Nifty50 settled 0.34 per cent, or 76.3 points, higher at 22,198.35 on Tuesday, the BSE Sensex added 0.42 per cent, or 305.09 points, to close at 73,095.22.

The broad market indices ended marginally in the negative as the activity levels were concentrated in large and larger midcaps, Jasani said.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors' aggregate holding in Indian stocks fell to a decadal low by the end of January 2024, according to ICICI Securities.

The aggregate holdings of FPIs stood at Rs 62 lakh crore at the end of January 2024, against the total aggregate market capitalisation of Indian equities at Rs 380 lakh crore. This implies that FPI holdings in Indian stocks fell to a decadal-low of 16.3 per cent by the end of Jan 2024.

Nifty opened lower but soon made a gradual recovery to close with gains of 76 points at 22,198 levels, said Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Retail Research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Sector-wise, it was a mixed bag with buying seen in realty, consumer durables, auto, IT, and healthcare. Railway stocks were in momentum for the second consecutive session after the government announced rail infra projects worth around Rs 41,000 crore, Khemka said.

Defensive sectors like IT and pharma were in momentum with key gainers in largecaps like TCS, Sun Pharma, and Cipla. Also, strength was visible in select largecaps like L&T, Tata Motors, and HDFC Life providing support to the overall market, he added.

"Domestic equities are consolidating in a range with every dip being bought showing strength at lower levels. Overall we expect the market to trade in range with positive bias. Globally, investors would watch out for US and Europe consumer confidence data," Khemka said.