Sensex ends flat, Nifty dips slightly below 8150

At the end of trading hours, the only positive is that the indices have closed in green. Sensex opened on a high note and more or less was stagnant in terms of variations throughout the day. Similarly, Nifty too stayed flat throughout the day.

The BSE Sensex ended with a gain of 44 points at 26392.76. The benchmark indices opened at 26403.62, touched an intra-day high of 26502.43 and low of 26356.02.

The NSE Nifty gained 14 points and closed at 8,143.15. It opened at 8,153.15 points, hitting a high of 8,178.70 and low of 8,130.85.

The India VIX (Volatility) index was down 1.05% at 17.1050. The BSE Midcap closed at 12344.34 and Smallcap indices closed at 12164.11, both indices ending marginally up.

Out of 1882 stocks traded on the NSE, 698 declined and 904 advanced today.

A total of 23 stocks registered a fresh 52-week high in trade today, whereas 10 stocks touched a new 52-week low on the NSE.

At the close of day, Tata Power, HDFC, Idea, BPCL, Adani Ports, ONGC, Tata Steel were the top gainers while Infratel, Bosch, HCL Tech, Maruti, PowerGrid, Axis Bank were among the losers on NSE.

The rupee was trading at 67.92 per US dollar. Gold was trading at Rs 27,935 per 10 gms and silver was trading at Rs 41,240 per kg.

On the global front, most Asian indices closed in green and marginally up. In Europe, the FTSE 100 was down 0.08%. CAC 40 and DAX was up 0.29% and 0.06% respectively while, the US Nasdaq was also up 1%.

Nifty starts above 8150, Sensex rallies 100 points

At 9:24 AM, the S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 26403.62, up by 116.23 points, while NSE Nifty is trading at 8,165.65 up by 39 points.

Asian markets opened in the green as markets discounted the Italian referendum in less than 15 minutes of opening with European indices closing with sharp gains. With the US leading from the front growth expectations on the back of huge infra spending are being touted as catalysts for equity market outperformance in 2017. Money is chasing higher bond yields & equities with Gold being the biggest loser as the US $ gets stronger.

The outlook is a positive start. The concerns and fears regarding the Italian referendum have taken a backseat for now. Wall Street rose on Monday with the Dow hitting record highs. Data showed further strength in the US economy suggesting a rate hike by the Fed next week. Back home the RBI monetary policy meet gets underway today and with a Rs 6 lakh crore Market Stabilisation Scheme expected, a 25 basis points reduction in the key policy rate seems to be well on its way.  The central bank will announce its bi-monthly monetary policy on Wednesday

US dollar lost ground against the basket of currencies, with Sterling looking the most resilient among the pack. For Euro, the focus will be accentuated on ECB policy meeting tomorrow, where expectations call for an a six-month extension to their asset purchase program in order to boost inflation and keep borrowing conditions conducive for growth.

Nifty found strong support @ 8050-8060 while 8200-8230 will act as resistance on the upside. Bank Nifty also has seen 18143 being held despite the volatility & that remains a strong support while 18650 will act as resistance on the upside.