FINAL TRADE: Equity benchmarks close at fresh highs; Tata Motors top Nifty gainer

Indian equities in Tuesday's trade ended on a flat note but at fresh record highs in a choppy session today as investors anticipate the outlook of the US Fed meeting that begins today. Nifty at the close ended 0.085 per cent higher at 24,857.3, while the Sensex ended up 0.12 per cent ot 99.55 points at 81,455.4. Meanwhile, Bank Nifty also continued its northward journey.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services on the markets performance today stated that "the domestic market ended flat, due to profit-booking at higher levels. However, the expectation of dovish comments from the US Fed and BoE in the upcoming policy meetings this week is supporting the optimism. The investors will also closely monitor comments from BoE and BoJ. The BOE is expected to lower rates due to rising unemployment and easing inflation, while the BOJ is likely to increase rates in response to surging inflation, potentially causing market volatility.

Sectorally, consumer durables took over as the top gainer, followed by media and energy pack. Experts are bullish on the energy pack despite HPCL coming up with weak Q1 numbers on declining crude oil price and as stocks in the pack are available at cheap valuations.

From within the Nifty50 basket, top gainers were Tata Motors, NTPC, BPCL, Power Grid Corporation of India and Asian Paints, while laggards included stocks such as LTIMindtree, Cipla, SBI Life Insurance, Grasim Industries and Sun Pharma.

Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst, LKP Securities held that the Nifty oscillated between 24,800 and 25,000 before closing on a flat note. It seems that the bulls are taking a breather following a rally from 24,200. The trend remains positive, with Put writers putting their weight at 24,800. Buy-on-dips might remain the flavor of the market until the Nifty falls decisively below 24,700. On the higher end, a move above 25,000 might open the gate towards 25,250.