 "Nifty loses tussle with 6,800")
Key indices shed early gains in the last half hour of trade to close flat, a day after touching their all-time closing high levels.
The 30-share BSE Sensex closed 56 points lower at 22,715, while the 50-stock NSE Nifty closed flat at 6,796 levels.
"Now nifty has to hold and close above 6800 to resume up trend.On downside if it sustains below 6750 then a dip may be seen towards 6700-6680 levels," said Chandan Taparia - Derivative Analyst, Anand Rathi Financial Services.
"This is likely to even go higher as we are heading for the political scenario.Rising vix indicates now traders has to be cautious and don't take much leverage position. Traders are advised to trade in option or option strategy," added Taparia.
After trading with gains for most of the day, selling pressure in software manufacturer Infosys, cigarette-to-hotel conglomerate ITC and private lender ICICI Bank pulled the benchmarks lower. The three heavyweight blue-chips stocks collectively pulled the Sensex 170 points lower. On the other hand, gains in automobile manufacturer Tata Motors, public lender SBI and oil & gas behemoth Reliance Industries Limited balanced the losses.
The National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty index had opened the day above the crucial psychological level of 6800 on the back of surging global markets.
Meanwhile, the partially convertible rupee rose to 60.08 against the greenback in afternoon trades after slumping to 60.27/28 during the day, from its Wednesday close of 60.14/15.
Realty and power indices, which ended with 1.2-2.5% gains, were the top gainers among BSE sectoral indices which track the stocks of different industrial sectors. Bank, capital goods and metal indices were also on the buyer’s radar.
BSE Healthcare and IT were the top losers. Infosys, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech were the top losers in BSE IT index. However, Hexaware and FTIL bucked the trend to gain over 4 percent each
Broader markets continued to outperform; both the mid cap and small cap indices clocked 0.6% gains, while the benchmark Sensex ended flat.
"Nifty is continuously trading in higher highs and higher lows sort of rising channel on daily charts which is bullish in nature," said Mudit Goyal -Technical analyst, SMC global.
Tata Motors gained 2.3% at Rs 430.80 after touching a record high of Rs 435 after Citigroup raised its price target on the stock to Rs 486 from Rs 421, citing the outlook for the automaker's luxury unit Jaguar Land Rover (JLR).
Piramal Enterprises added almost 4% to Rs 556.15 on the BSE after the company agreed to divest its entire stake in Vodafone India for a total consideration of Rs 8,900 crore.
Cairn India added 2.5% to close at Rs 359.25 on the BSE after reporting 11% year-on-year growth in oil and gas production to 20.20 million barrels of oil equivalent during fourth quarter of 2013-2014.
The advance-decline ratio favoured the bulls, with 1551 stocks gaining against a decline in 1251 stocks.
Globally investors cheered Fed minutes released late Wednesday.
Asian shares hit five-month highs on Thursday as investors welcomed minutes of the Federal Reserve suggesting that policymakers will be more cautious towards raising interest rates than markets had thought.
In Europe, the MSCI Europe climbed 0.6 percent while the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares advanced 0.3 percent. The MSCI Emerging Market index rose 0.8 percent.
The Fed minutes released on Wednesday fuelled a rally on Wall Street, where all three major U.S. stock indexes ended up more than 1 percent. Financial markets also put aside concerns of a first Fed rate hike by about six weeks, to July 2015, trading in interest-rate futures showed.
The 30-share BSE Sensex closed 56 points lower at 22,715, while the 50-stock NSE Nifty closed flat at 6,796 levels.
"Now nifty has to hold and close above 6800 to resume up trend.On downside if it sustains below 6750 then a dip may be seen towards 6700-6680 levels," said Chandan Taparia - Derivative Analyst, Anand Rathi Financial Services.
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India VIX, a key measure of investor's perception of near-term risk based on option prices, rose to near to 7 months highs, to close at 28.7.
"This is likely to even go higher as we are heading for the political scenario.Rising vix indicates now traders has to be cautious and don't take much leverage position. Traders are advised to trade in option or option strategy," added Taparia.
After trading with gains for most of the day, selling pressure in software manufacturer Infosys, cigarette-to-hotel conglomerate ITC and private lender ICICI Bank pulled the benchmarks lower. The three heavyweight blue-chips stocks collectively pulled the Sensex 170 points lower. On the other hand, gains in automobile manufacturer Tata Motors, public lender SBI and oil & gas behemoth Reliance Industries Limited balanced the losses.
The National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty index had opened the day above the crucial psychological level of 6800 on the back of surging global markets.
Meanwhile, the partially convertible rupee rose to 60.08 against the greenback in afternoon trades after slumping to 60.27/28 during the day, from its Wednesday close of 60.14/15.
Realty and power indices, which ended with 1.2-2.5% gains, were the top gainers among BSE sectoral indices which track the stocks of different industrial sectors. Bank, capital goods and metal indices were also on the buyer’s radar.
BSE Healthcare and IT were the top losers. Infosys, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech were the top losers in BSE IT index. However, Hexaware and FTIL bucked the trend to gain over 4 percent each
Broader markets continued to outperform; both the mid cap and small cap indices clocked 0.6% gains, while the benchmark Sensex ended flat.
"Nifty is continuously trading in higher highs and higher lows sort of rising channel on daily charts which is bullish in nature," said Mudit Goyal -Technical analyst, SMC global.
Tata Motors gained 2.3% at Rs 430.80 after touching a record high of Rs 435 after Citigroup raised its price target on the stock to Rs 486 from Rs 421, citing the outlook for the automaker's luxury unit Jaguar Land Rover (JLR).
Piramal Enterprises added almost 4% to Rs 556.15 on the BSE after the company agreed to divest its entire stake in Vodafone India for a total consideration of Rs 8,900 crore.
Cairn India added 2.5% to close at Rs 359.25 on the BSE after reporting 11% year-on-year growth in oil and gas production to 20.20 million barrels of oil equivalent during fourth quarter of 2013-2014.
The advance-decline ratio favoured the bulls, with 1551 stocks gaining against a decline in 1251 stocks.
Globally investors cheered Fed minutes released late Wednesday.
Asian shares hit five-month highs on Thursday as investors welcomed minutes of the Federal Reserve suggesting that policymakers will be more cautious towards raising interest rates than markets had thought.
In Europe, the MSCI Europe climbed 0.6 percent while the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares advanced 0.3 percent. The MSCI Emerging Market index rose 0.8 percent.
The Fed minutes released on Wednesday fuelled a rally on Wall Street, where all three major U.S. stock indexes ended up more than 1 percent. Financial markets also put aside concerns of a first Fed rate hike by about six weeks, to July 2015, trading in interest-rate futures showed.