Sensex Ends Flat, Nifty Slips Below 24,000 As IT Rally Offsets HUL Drag

Indian benchmark indices ended little changed in a volatile expiry session on Tuesday, as strong gains in IT stocks were offset by sharp losses in Hindustan Unilever (HUL), Bharat Electronics and energy shares amid caution ahead of major global central bank meetings.

The Sensex closed 69.86 points, or 0.09%, lower at 76,765.92, while the Nifty 50 slipped 10.60 points, or 0.04%, to 23,985.35.

Market breadth remained negative, with 2,543 stocks declining, 1,539 advancing and 155 remaining unchanged.

TCS emerged as the top Nifty gainer, rising 4.47%, followed by Eternal (4.23%), Tech Mahindra (3.82%), Nestle India (3%) and Cipla (2.5%). On the losing side, HUL dropped 7% after its June-quarter results, while Bharat Electronics fell 4.24%, Coal India declined 4%, Tata Consumer Products lost 2.2% and NTPC slipped 2%.

IT Rally Counters Weakness In FMCG, Energy

Sectoral performance remained mixed, with the Nifty IT index surging 3.2% to emerge as the top performer. Realty gained 2%, Consumer Durables advanced 1.08%, Auto rose 0.69% and Pharma added 0.2%.

On the other hand, Energy was the worst-performing sector, falling 1.7%, followed by FMCG (-1.4%) and PSU Bank (-0.9%). Metal, Bank, Infrastructure, Private Bank and Media indices also ended in the red.

The broader market was mixed, with the Nifty Midcap 100 edging up 0.1%, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 slipped 0.2%.

Central Bank Meetings Keep Investors Cautious

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments, said lower crude oil prices offered relief to markets by easing inflation concerns, but investors remained cautious ahead of policy decisions from the US Federal Reserve, Bank of England and Bank of Japan.

"The respite in crude oil prices provided relief to markets by easing concerns over inflation and input cost pressures. However, investor sentiment remained cautious ahead of key central bank policy meetings this week, including those of the Fed, BoE, and BoJ," he said.

Nair added that expectations of unchanged interest rates, India's relative advantage under the revised US tariff framework, improving monsoon conditions and moderately better first-quarter earnings supported market sentiment, while IT stocks continued to outperform on attractive valuations.

Rupee Ends Nearly Flat

The Indian rupee erased most of its intraday gains to end nearly unchanged at 95.86 per US dollar, compared with its previous close of 95.89.

According to Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst – Commodity and Currency at LKP Securities, the rupee was supported by the sharp decline in Brent crude oil prices and relatively limited foreign institutional investor selling.

He said the domestic currency would continue to take cues from crude oil prices, the US Dollar Index, FII flows and the upcoming US Federal Reserve policy decision, with the rupee expected to trade in the 95.50–96.25 range in the near term.