The Hindu Business Line : Stocks end flat after early gains

Mumbai, March 18 After taking a heavy beating yesterday, the benchmark stock indices ended flat on Tuesday as investors waited for positive clues from global markets.

The Sensex closed at 14833.46, up by 0.16 per cent from the previous close, gaining 23.97 points. S&P CNX Nifty was up by 0.66 per cent and closed at 4533.

The FIIs were net sellers for Rs 1,011.05 crore while the domestic institutional investors were net buyers by Rs 177.33 crore.

“The market could not hold on to the gains in the earlier part of the day but lost further ground during the last half an hour of the trading session. The fall could be due to the long holiday and the impaired sentiments making difficult to carry on long positions. Also the market would be keenly watching the data flows from US and the Fed meet today”, a Religare spokesperson said.

Positive news about higher advance tax payment by some corporates such as L&T, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and SBI boosted the sentiments for the first half of the trading session.

“The advance tax figures are encouraging and so should be looked at positively. One has to now wait and watch till the quarterly results are out, said Mr Arindam Ghosh, Chief Executive Officer, Mirae Asset Management.

The market breadth was negative as 749 stocks advanced, whereas 1918 stocks declined.

BSE-Realty and BSE-CG led the gains amongst sectoral indices as they were up by 1.92 per cent and 1.79 per cent respectively.

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