Markets end marginally higher; Sensex extends gain for 2nd session on foreign fund inflows
Mumbai, Apr 29 (PTI): Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ticked higher for the second straight session in a volatile trade on Tuesday as investors turned cautious amid concern over geopolitical tensions.
However, intense buying in blue-chips Reliance Industries, Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services and unabated foreign capital inflows supported the domestic market.
The 30-share BSE benchmark gauge climbed 70.01 points or 0.09 per cent to settle at 80,288.38. During the day, it jumped 442.94 points or 0.55 per cent to 80,661.31.
The NSE Nifty ended marginally up by 7.45 points or 0.03 per cent to 24,335.95.
"After showing a sustainable upside bounce on Monday, Nifty shifted into a consolidation with a small high-low range on Tuesday and closed the day higher by 7 points.
"After opening on a positive note, the market was not able to continue with the morning gains and slipped into minor weakness from the highs in the early part of the session. It later shifted into a range-bound action for the better part of the session," Nagaraj Shetti, Senior Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities, said.
From the Sensex firms, Reliance Industries, Tech Mahindra, Eternal, HCL Tech, Infosys, IndusInd Bank, Tata Consultancy Services and Bajaj Finserv were the biggest gainers.
In contrast, UltraTech Cement, Sun Pharma, Power Grid, NTPC, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Mahindra & Mahindra were among the laggards.
The BSE midcap gauge climbed 0.23 per cent and smallcap index went up marginally by 0.09 per cent.
Among sectoral indices, BSE Focused IT rallied 1.23 per cent, IT (1.13 per cent), capital goods (0.94 per cent), teck (0.76 per cent), industrials (0.70 per cent) and consumer durables (0.60 per cent).
Metal, utilities, commodities, telecommunication, services, bankex and financial services were the laggards.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 2,474.10 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.
"The market exhibited largely range-bound oscillation, as caution prevailed amid geopolitical concerns over border tensions. The sustained inflows from FIIs provided support to market sentiment and restricted further pessimism. Meanwhile, mixed Q4 results have raised the risk of downward revisions to FY26 projections," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.
In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng settled in the positive territory, while Shanghai SSE Composite ended marginally lower.
European markets were trading mostly in the green. US markets ended mostly higher on Monday.
"Markets traded lacklustre and ended nearly unchanged in the absence of any significant trigger. After an initial uptick, the Nifty moved in a narrow range and closed flat," Ajit Mishra - SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said.
Meanwhile, Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir for a fifth consecutive night, expanding the arc of violations to the Akhnoor sector of Jammu district, an official said on Tuesday.
This was the fifth consecutive night that Pakistan resorted to unprovoked firing along the Line of Control (LoC) amid heightened tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad following last week's terror attack in Pahalgam.
Nearly 50 public parks and gardens located in vulnerable areas of Kashmir Valley have been shut as a precautionary measure in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack.
India's industrial production growth remained almost flat at 3 per cent in March sequentially, though on a year-on-year basis, it slipped from 5.5 per cent, mainly due to poor performance of the manufacturing, mining, and power sectors.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 1.59 per cent to USD 64.81 a barrel.
The BSE benchmark index Sensex jumped 1,005.84 points or 1.27 per cent to settle at 80,218.37 on Monday. The Nifty rallied 289.15 points or 1.20 per cent to 24,328.50.
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Belthangady MLA Harish Poonja's hate speech video goes viral
Belthangady: A video of Belthangady MLA Harish Poonja delivering a hate speech against Muslims during a religious event has gone viral on social media, sparking widespread outrage. The speech was made from the stage of the Brahmakalashotsava ceremony at the Thekkaru Sri Gopalakrishna Temple on Saturday night.
In the video, the MLA can be heard accusing the local Muslim community of vandalism and theft. He alleged that "country Bearys of Thekkaru" broke tube lights installed for the temple event and stole diesel. His remarks have been widely condemned as inflammatory and communal in nature.
"You (Hindus) are only 150 families in Thekkaru. The Muslim community has 1,200 families. In another ten years, their numbers won’t drop to 600. Instead, the number of Bearys will grow from 5,000 to 10,000. Regardless of their numbers, we must unite, rise above caste differences, and work towards the development of the temple," he said.
MLA Poonja also made unsubstantiated claims that the Muslim community is divided into 70 to 74 castes and questioned why invitations for the Brahmakalashotsava were extended to local mosques.
"Why did Thekkaru villagers send temple invitations to mosques? There is no connection between them and us. It is because of these invitations that they broke the tube lights," he alleged.
Contrary to his remarks, local Muslims had participated in the spirit of harmony by putting up congratulatory banners for the temple celebration after receiving invitations.
The speech has drawn criticism from various quarters, with many accusing the MLA of attempting to incite communal disharmony at a sensitive time.
