Sensex tiptoes into positive zone as caution prevails

After moving up and down, the market benchmark Sensex closed in the green for the fifth consecutive day by edging up 13 points as investors got on with their buying activity amid foreign fund inflows.
The gains followed its best weekly performance in over four years on Friday.
Investors took a cautious line as they looked forward to the outcome of meetings of central banks.
Asian shares tumbled after Chinese trade data showed that its exports continue to languish and fell by a hefty margin.
Last week, the Sensex rallied 1,492.18 points, or 6.44 per cent, and Nifty zoomed 455.60 points, or 6.48 per cent -- their biggest weekly gain in more than four years.

In a volatile trade, the BSE Sensex after opening a tad higher moved up on the back of widespread gains in blue-chip stocks.

But profit-booking pulled it down as the 30-share barometer settled at 24,659.23, a paltry gain of 12.75 points, or 0.05 per cent.
The gauge had gained 1,644.48 points in the previous four sessions on expectations of a rate cut by RBI and positive global cues after the government kept its deficit target for the next fiscal at 3.5 per cent in the Budget 2016.
In contrast, the NSE Nifty-50, which retook the crucial 7,500-mark at the outset, gave up the day's gains as profit-booking weighed. Finally, it closed little changed at 7,485.30 as against its previous closing of 7,485.35.

"The slump in Chinese trade due to the sharp reduction in export data has created the volatility in the market. Global markets are anticipating further stimulus from ECB on March 10 and Fed to keep the positive momentum," said Vinod Nair, Head-Fundamental Research, Geojit BNP Paribas.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) purchased shares worth a net Rs 671.57 crore last Friday, according to provisional data.
The market was closed yesterday for 'Mahashivratri'.
Major gainers were GAIL 2.49 per cent, RIL 2,05 per cent, Lupin 2.05 per cent, ITC 1.66 per cent, HDFC 1.56 per cent, Tata Steel 1.21 per cent, Adani Ports 1 per cent and NTPC 0.99 per cent.

In the 30-share Sensex universe, 16 added to gains while 14 led by Maruti Suzuki, SBI, Hindustan Unilever, ICICI Bank, Cipla, BHEL, Axis Bank, Hero MotoCorp, Dr Reddy's, L&T and HDFC Bank finished lower, falling by up to 2.90 per cent.
The BSE metal index rose the most by climbing 1.70 per cent, followed by oil and gas 1.50 per cent, realty 0.90 per cent, consumer durables 0.58 per cent, FMCG 0.39 per cent and healthcare 0.20 per cent.
In sync with the overall trend, the broader markets too displayed a mixed trend, with the small-cap index rising 0. 24 per cent while mid-cap index fell 0.25 per cent.

In the rest of Asia, Japan's Nikkei ended 0.76 per cent down and Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.73 per cent after China's exports saw another hefty slump and Brent oil retreated from its near 2016 highs.
Back home, of the 30-share Sensex pack, 15 scrips ended
higher.
Major gainers were BHEL (1.80 pc), L&T (1.52 pc), ICICI Bank (1.48 pc), Hero MotoCorp (1.32 pc), ONGC (1.27 pc), Axis Bank (0.89 pc), Cipla (0.85 pc), Wipro (0.76 pc), Tata Motors (0.70 pc), M&M (0.50 pc), HDFC (0.44 pc), Maruti Suzuki (0.42 pc) and SBI (0.29 pc).
However, Infosys, Asian Paint, HDFC Bank, Adani Ports, TCS, Dr Reddy's, Coal India, Bajaj Auto, Tata Steel, Lupin, NTPC and GAIL fell by up to 1.50 per cent.

Among the major indices, BSE Power rose by 1.77 per cent followed by capital goods 1.76 per cent, PSU 0.61 per cent, auto 0.44 per cent, realty 0.31 per cent, consumer durables 0.29 per cent, oil&gas 0.24 per cent, metal 0.14 per cent and banking 0.12 per cent.
The market breadth remained positive as 1,584 stocks ended higher, 1,048 finished in red while 162 ruled steady.
The total turnover fell to Rs 2,535.88 crore from Rs 2,726.04 crore yesterday.