Closing Bell: Market ends flat ahead of MPC meet; PSU Bank outperforms

Ahead of the RBI's Monetary Policy Committee meeting, which starts on August 3, the stock market ended flat on Tuesday.  After surging by more than four per cent in the last four sessions, the benchmark indices ended flat with positive bias on Tuesday. The broader Nifty50 ended above 17,300, while the Sensex gained over 20 points to close above 58,100.   

The Nifty remained rangebound during the day as the index remained within the bands of 17200 and 17400, said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities. "On the daily chart, the index has maintained its uptrend. The daily RSI is in bullish crossover and rising. The trend is likely to remain bullish as long as the Nifty holds above 17000. On the higher end, the resistance is visible at 17400-17500," he added. 

Global indicators did not favour bulls, with most Asian and Western markets trading over concerns of rising geopolitical tension between the US and China said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, reacting on Tuesday's closing. Additionally, economic data point to a decrease in demand, major markets throughout the world are trading with recessionary fears, he said. 

"The domestic market, however, has proven resilient, thanks to increased demand in heavyweights and a strengthening Indian rupee underpinned by falling US treasury yields & FIIs buying," Nair added.  

In the broader market, the Nifty Midcap gained 0.20%, while the Nifty small cap continued to rally, ending higher by more than half per cent (0.7%).    

Meanwhile, bucking the trend, Nifty PSU Bank rose two and half per cent, while Nifty Bank, FMCG and Auto and Consumer Durables were other notable gainers. 

"The Bank Nifty index continued its upward momentum but failed to surpass the level of 38,000 on a closing basis. The index is already trading in oversold territory on the short-term time frame and a profit booking cannot be ruled out from the current levels. The volatility is likely to increase ahead of the RBI policy and one should keep a buy-on-dip approach with immediate support at 37,400 levels,"said Kunal Shah, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities. 

IndusInd Bank led the rally on Nifty50 and Sensex, gaining by two and half per cent. Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever, NTPC, Maruti, State Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra and Power Grid were among top gainers on the benchmarks.  

UPL and Tech Mahindra were the top losers on Nifty50 and Sensex. Hero MotoCorp, SBI Life, Britannia, Hindalco, L&T, HDFC Twins and Bharti Airtel were top laggards on the two indices.