Aggressive fag-end buying helped the benchmark CNX Nifty trim early losses to end modestly lower by 13 points on the NSE today after the government hinted at more reforms amid relative rupee stability.
A dramatic recovery in the rupee after plunging to 61.20 against the US dollar in early trades, mainly aided sentiment.
Banking and FMCG counters remained under intense selling pressure following recent RBI measures to squeeze liquidity to control forex volatility and lowering growth projections.
Extending its downslide for six straight sessions, the market opened on a subdued note amidst uncertainty over RBI policy and continued to trade with a negative bias.
However, a sharp slide in domestic currency played havoc in the market with key indices falling below the 5,700-level briefly, before regaining some lost ground.
Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram's assurance that the government would quicken the pace of reforms and FDI would be liberalised further, along with the government's confidence that the economy would grow by around 5.5 to 6 per cent in the current fiscal led to some stability in the market during mid-trades.
The 50-share Nifty swung widely between a high of 5,752.10 and a low of 5,675.75 before ending at 5,742, posting a modest loss of 13.05 points, or 0.23 per cent.
Other Asian markets ended mixed amidst caution as investors adopted a wait-and-watch approach ahead of the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meet outcome later in the day as well as US second-quarter GDP data.
DLF, Axis Bank, Power Grid, NTPC, JP Associates, Indusind Bank, IDFC, HDFC Bank, ITC and Ultracemco were among the top index losers.
Key gainers included Bharti Airtel, Dr Reddy's, BHEL, Lupin, Hindalco, BPCL, Sesa Goa, ONGC, HCL-Tech and Tata Steel.
Turnover in the cash segment spiked to Rs 14,683.19 crore from Rs 10,266.11 crore yesterday. A total of 7,845.04 lakh shares changed hands in 76,23,891 trades. The market capitalisation stood at Rs 60,98,779 crore.
