Markets look for direction amid global headwinds

Benchmarks eked out modest gains in choppy trade today as investors booked profit ahead of the expiry of June derivatives contracts amid lacklustre overseas cues.

Global markets were mixed amid escalating trade tensions between the US and other leading economies, including the EU, China and India.

The 30-share BSE Sensex, after rising over 145 points intra-day, surrendered most of the gains in the last 30 minutes of trade to end at 35,490.04, up just 19.69 points, or 0.06 per cent.

In similar fashion, the 50-share NSE Nifty closed higher by mere 6.70 points or 0.06 per cent at 10,769.15.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 198.68 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth Rs 86.22 crore on Monday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.

"Market was range-bound while mid and small caps continued to underperform amid tensions in global trade.

"Investors were using every opportunity to book profits ahead of F&O expiry. The rupee depreciated due to the outflow of foreign funds while oil prices have remained low which could provide some cushion to domestic inflation," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

Coal India emerged as the biggest gainer among Sensex constituents by rising 2.10 per cent, followed by TCS at 1.77 per cent.

Other gainers included Maruti Suzuki 1.68 per cent, Asian Paints 1.57 per cent, Bharti Airtel 1.34 per cent, HDFC 1.04 per cent, ONGC 0.86 per cent, IndusInd Bank 0.83 per cent and Adani Ports 0.66 per cent.

However, Tata Motors was the worst performer for the second straight day, plunging 4.31 per cent, while index heavyweight RIL lost 2.48 per cent.

PowerGrid, Tata Steel, M&M, Hero MotoCorp, ICICI Bank, SBI, Axis Bank and Wipro too ended in the red.

Sectorally, the BSE FMCG index rose 0.77 per cent, followed by teck (0.70 per cent), IT (0.61 per cent), consumer durables (0.54 per cent) and oil and gas (0.08 per cent).

Power, realty, healthcare, auto, capital goods and metal indices ended lower.

The broader markets remained under selling pressure as investors pared their positions. The BSE small-cap index fell 0.59 per cent, while the mid-cap index shed 0.33 per cent.

In the Asian region, Japan's Nikkei inched up 0.02 per cent, Singapore rose 0.61 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.28 per cent. Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.52 per cent.

In the Eurozone, Frankfurt's DAX gained 0.48 per cent and Paris CAC 40 was up 0.35 per cent in early trade. London's FTSE too rose 0.46 per cent.