Indian stocks closed flat as traders preferred to remain fence sitters

Indian stocks closed flat on Tuesday as traders preferred to remain fence sitters ahead of the major flow of earnings later this week. Stocks in the technology, metals and energy sectors were under selling pressure.

The Nifty ended 12 points lower at 8,132 points, rebounding from a low of 8,092 points. Idea, ONGC, Vedanta, Infosys and HCL Tech ended lower while UltraTech, Bajaj Auto, Coal India and Yes Bank showed strong upticks. The Nifty had an Advance-Decline Ratio of 24/26 and Infosys, TCS and Jet Airways were the top traded counters on the Index.

Broader indices were mostly weak with the CNX 100, CNX 200 and CNX 500 benchmarks ending in minor losses. The CNX Mid Cap and the CNX Small Cap indices rose in trade. The trend in the sectoral space was mixed with CNX IT,CNX Metals and CNX PSU Bank benchmarks receding from Monday's close while indices representing the Auto, Media and FMCG sectors inched up in trade.

Sentiment was flat on the Bombay Stock Exchange as well where the Sensex lost 58 points to end the day at 26,848. Tata Steel, Bharti, GAIL and Hero Motors were some of the top losers in trade whereas decent gains were seen on Dr. Reddy's, ITC, Maruti and Lupin. The Sensex had an Advance-Decline Ratio of 15/15 and Infosys, TCS and Axis Bank were the top gainers on the Index.

The broader market saw bulls dominating the trade with 1,535 stocks rising compared with 1,232 that fell.

Mid Cap stocks were in demand in the derivatives space. Hence, futures of IFCI, NCC and Reliance Capital rose sharply in trade while the losers side was dominated by large caps such as ONGC and Vedanta.

Birla Corp, Jet Airways and Gravita India made it to the top volume buzzers list on the National Stock Exchange.

(Image credits: flickr/loridz)