The Sensex and Nifty posted slight gains on Tuesday, as auto makers such as Maruti Suzuki rallied on strong April sales, but broader gains were capped after Ambuja Cement's quarterly results raised concerns about corporate earnings.

The broader NSE index ended up 9.75 points or 0.1 per cent at 9,313.80, while the benchmark BSE index closed 2.78 points or 0.01 per cent higher at 29,921.18. Both indexes ended lower in the previous two sessions.

Among BSE sectoral indices, realty index was the star-performer and was up 1.99 per cent, followed by consumer durables 1.21 per cent, oil & gas 1.05 per cent and infrastructure 0.73 per cent. On the other hand, healthcare index was down 0.78 per cent, metal 0.57 per cent, capital goods 0.56 per cent and power 0.5 per cent.

Top five Sensex gainers were ONGC (+3.14%), HDFC (+2.99%), Maruti (+2.76%), GAIL (+1.46%) and Bajaj Auto (+1.28%), while the major losers were Lupin (-2.49%), Bharti Airtel (-2.00%), Reliance (-1.71%), Sun Pharma (-1.59%) and NTPC (-1.4%).

“Markets are in a consolidation mode as the corporate earnings season unfold,” said Rakesh Tarway, head of research, Reliance Securities Ltd. “Till the end of the earnings season, we can only expect to see a day-to-day sector-based or stock-based impact on the indexes based on the earnings performance.”

Ambuja Cements fell as much as 4.21 per cent after its quarterly profit missed estimates, becoming the main drag on the NSE index.

Shares of most Indian auto makers however rose after they reported a jump in April vehicle sales on Monday.

Maruti Suzuk i gained as much as 2.53 per cent to a record high of Rs 6,690, while Eicher Motors rose 2.61 per cent to a record high of Rs 26,747.90.

Oil refiners also rose on hikes in petrol and diesel prices. Bharat Petroleum Corp gained as much as 2.75 per cent, Hindustan Petroleum Corp rose as much as 2.40 per cent, while Indian Oil Corp climbed as much as 1.87 per cent.

Asian shares

Asian shares advanced on Tuesday, helped by rising optimism on the technology industry and easing concerns over North Korea, while the dollar edged up to one-month high versus the yen.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.1 per cent, with many of the region's markets reopening after a long holiday weekend. Japan's Nikkei rose 0.3 per cent.

Wall Street climbed on Monday, boosted by gains in Apple and other big tech stocks that more than offset weak economic data and pushed the Nasdaq Composite to another record high.

The S&P 500 gained 4.13 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 2,388.33 and the Nasdaq Composite added 44.00 points, or 0.73 per cent, to 6,091.60, a record closing high.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 27.05 points or 0.13 per cent to 20,913.46, after notching its best weekly performance of 2017 last week.

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