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After a firm opening, markets turned flat as profit booking in banks, ITC and L&T weighed on the indices. At 0930 hrs, the Nifty was down five points at 6,698 and the Sensex was up nine points at 22,395.
There was some profit booking in midcaps, as the index slipped into the negative territory after a firm opening. Meanwhile, the smallcap index was up 0.2%.
Among the sectoral indices, Consumer Durables, IT and Teck indices gained 1% each. Oil & Gas index added 0.5% while Auto and Health Care indices were marginally up 0.1% each.
Among the ones in red, Capital Goods, Realty and Metal indices slipped by 1% each. Power and FMCG indices gave off 0.4% and 0.3% respectively.
Banking index was down 0.3% ahead of the RBI Policy expected in another couple of hours.
BHEL and Hindalco down 2% along with Tata Steel, HDFC, Coal India and Tata Power down 1% were the prominent losers.
IT majors Wipro, TCS and Infosys up 21-2% were the top gainers.
ONGC, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel, Dr Reddys Lab, NTPC and Reliance Industries up 0.5-1.2% were the other major gainers.
The market breadth was positive on BSE. 763 stocks advanced while 561 stocks declined.
Global Markets
In Asia, shares were down slightly in early trade on Tuesday, as investors chose discretion over valour ahead of a key manufacturing survey from China even as Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's dovish comments eased concerns of an early start to rate hikes.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.2%, with Australian stocks leading the losses with a 0.6% fall. Japan's Nikkei share average rose 0.1%.
Overnight, U.S. stocks rose on Monday, with the S&P 500 ending both March and the first quarter of 2014 with moderate gains, after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen relieved concerns about a rate hike coming earlier than expected.
This was the fifth straight quarterly rise for both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, though it was the smallest three-month advance for both since the fourth quarter of 2012. Both the Dow and the S&P 500 rose for a second straight month in March.
The Dow Jones industrial average shot up 10.82%, to end at 16,458. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 0.79%, to close at 1,872. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 1.04%, to finish at 4,199.
