Sensex up 165 pts, Nifty helow 22,350 ahead of US inflation data

The domestic equity benchmark indices ended on a mixed note in the highly volatile session on Tuesday. At close, the Sensex was up 165.32 points or 0.22 percent at 73,667.96, and the Nifty was up 3.05 points or 0.01 percent at 22,335.70.Investors will keep an eye on release of US inflation data tonight, to get hints on when Federal Reserve will commence its rate cut cycle.
HDFC Bank, TCS, LTIMindtree, Maruti Suzuki and Infosys were the top gainers on the Nifty, while losers included Adani Enterprises, Cipla, Grasim Industries, Adani Ports and SBI.
On the sectoral front, except IT all other indices ended in the red with realty index down nearly 3.5 percent, PSU Bank and Media indices down 2 percent each, while capital goods, FMCG, healthcare, metal and power indices fell 1 percent each.BSE Midcap index down 1.3 percent and Smallcap index shed 2 percent.
Rupee Close:
On 12 Mar'24,the Indian rupee consolidated in a narrow range and settled for the day 3 paise lower at 82.78  against the US dollar on Tuesday, as market participants remained on the sidelines ahead of the release of key macroeconomic data.
Forex traders said the Indian rupee declined marginally on positive US dollar and recovery in crude oil prices. However, positive domestic markets and sustained foreign fund inflows over the past three sessions supported the local unit at lower levels.
Trading Guide:
Market experts have recommended six day trading stocks for today — Pidilite, Apollo Hospital, HPCL, M&M Finance, CAMS, and KEC.

(Writer is a Finance Research Analyst, based in Gandhinagar, Gujarat)