Sensex Recovers After 5-Day Slump, Nifty Ends Lower

Mumbai, Feb 25 (PTI) Benchmark BSE Sensex recovered 147 points in a range-bound trade on Tuesday, ending its five-day slide on the back of buying in financial and FMCG shares.

The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex climbed 147.71 points or 0.20 per cent to settle at 74,602.12 with 17 of its constituents ending higher and 13 lower. During the day, it rallied 330.67 points or 0.44 per cent to 74,785.08.

The broader Nifty of NSE, however, fell for the sixth day slipping by 5.80 points or 0.03 per cent to finish at 22,547.55 due to fag-end selling in pharma, metal and IT shares.

Weak Asian and US markets along with foreign fund outflows made investors risk-averse, analysts said.

Among Sensex shares, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance, Zomato, Nestle, Bajaj Finserv, Maruti and Titan were the biggest gainers.

Sun Pharma, Power Grid, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra, Asian Paints and Tata Motors were among the laggards.

In the last five trading sessions, the BSE barometer lost 1,542.45 points or 2 per cent.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 6,286.70 crore on Monday, while DIIs bought equities worth Rs 5,185.65 crore, according to exchange data.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled lower. Equity markets in Europe were trading mostly higher. US markets ended mostly in the negative territory on Monday.

"Benchmark indices ended mixed in a lacklustre trading session as weak Asian cues further cautioned investors. Investors continued to stay risk averse as global uncertainty coupled with strong FII selling kept the mood sluggish ahead of expiry this week," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.13 per cent to USD 74.68 a barrel.

"The domestic market experienced a range-bound trading session in anticipation of key economic data releases this week, alongside the monthly expiry.

"Concerns over high valuations led to continued declines in small and midcap stocks. Market sentiment is expected to remain cautious in the near term due to persistent pressure on the INR, ongoing FII outflows, and tariff-related developments," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said.

Key macroeconomic indicators, including the US Core PCE and GDP data for both the US and India, will be instrumental in shaping expectations for the central bank's future monetary policy, Nair added.

The Sensex had tanked 856.65 points, or 1.14 per cent, to settle at 74,454.41 on Monday while the Nifty declined 242.55 points, or 1.06 per cent, to 22,553.35.

Stock markets will remain closed on Wednesday for 'Mahashivratri'.