Stock market today: The domestic equity benchmarks Nifty 50 and Sensex managed to settle in the green on Tuesday, March 12, amid buying in blue chips such as HDFC Bank, TCS, Maruti, and Infosys. Meanwhile, the mid-cap and small-cap stocks continued to struggle as profit booking persisted on concerns of froth and "irrational exuberance."

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The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 added 0.01 per cent, or 3.05 points, to close at 22,335.7, while the BSE Sensex rose 0.22 per cent, or 165.32 points, to settle at 73,667.96. HDFC Bank, LTIMindtree, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), and Maruti Suzuki were among the top gainers in the Nifty basket that traded with gains of up to 2 per cent. On the other hand, Adani Enterprises, Grasim, Cipla, and Adani Ports were among the top losers, down in the range of 1-3 per cent. 

"The domestic market witnessed rangebound trading today after the previous day’s sharp profit booking. However, mid-and small-cap stocks remained pressured, primarily due to apprehensions regarding inflated valuations," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said. 

Nifty Bank settled 0.1 per cent, or 45.45 points, lower at 47,282.4. In the broader market, the Nifty SmallCap100 and Nifty MidCap100 lost 1.98 per cent, and 1.41 per cent, respectively, underperforming the benchmarks. 

Meanwhile, the fast-moving consumer goods index, Nifty FMCG, shed 0.83 per cent. ITC, the diversified conglomerate, lost over 1 per cent after reports surfaced that British American Tobacco (BAT) was evaluating a possible disposal of a "small part" of its shareholding in ITC through an on-market block trade. Read more

Investors also awaited CPI data (due after market hours), which is expected to have declined to a four-month low in February, according to a Reuters poll of economists.

GLOBAL MARKET

European shares opened trade on a higher note on Tuesday, with support from strong corporate earnings, while investors awaited key US inflation data for more clues on the Federal Reserve's interest rate-cut trajectory.

"Global sentiment remained mixed as investors awaited key US inflation data, which could offer insights into the Fed's interest rate decisions. Additionally, market participants are anticipating India's inflation figures scheduled for release today to remain consistent with the previous month, which will be in the middle of the RBI's tolerance range," he added.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.4 per cent, as of 0812 GMT, just shy of a record peak touched last week. Oil and gas-related shares led sectoral gains with a nearly 1 per cent jump due to higher crude prices as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East continued to spur supply concerns.

(with agency inputs)

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