Hindu Business Line file photo

Chennai, India (BBN) – The Sensex and Nifty erased their gains to end lower on Tuesday, tracking weak global markets, as investors pruned exposure to risky assets amid lingering geopolitical tensions over North Korea.
The broader NSE index closed down 34.15 points or 0.37 per cent at 9,105.15, after gaining up to 0.86 per cent earlier in the day, reports The Hindu Business Line.
The benchmark BSE index ended 94.56 points or 0.32 per cent lower at 29,319.10, after rising as much as 0.98 percent earlier in the session.
Barring power, all other BSE sectoral indices ended in the negative zone. Among them, realty index fell the most by 3.48 per cent, followed by metal 1.81 per cent, healthcare 0.94 per cent and auto 0.75 per cent, while power index was up 0.03 per cent.
Top five Sensex gainers were NTPC (+1.6%), Wipro (+0.93%), HDFC Bank (+0.68%), ICICI Bank (+0.46%) and Power Grid (+0.32%), while the major losers wre Tata Steel (-2.55%), Coal India (-2.34%), Sun Pharma (-1.76%), Asian Paints (-1.68%) and Reliance (-1.48%).
CORPORATE EARNINGS
Investors appeared optimistic ahead of quarterly earnings of some key companies, including IT major TCS which is scheduled to release its results later in the day.
Corporate results season kicked in with banks rallying earlier in the day on expectations of stronger earnings.
The earnings season got off to a weak start with IT major Infosys Ltd issuing a lower-than-expected revenue guidance last week, but analysts still see signs of positive results this quarter.
“The start was not good, led by IT, but some signs are coming in that this quarter is going to be good,” said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services.
“Expectations about quarterly results have started building up. Investors are expecting some improvement in terms of growth rates during Q4 compared to Q3,” said Dipen Shah, senior vice president and head of private client group research, Kotak Securities. He added that PSU banks are expected to perform better.
EARLY TRADE
The 30-share BSE index Sensex surged 266.97 points or 0.90 per cent to 29,680.63 with all the sectoral indices led by metal, oil & gas and capital goods leading the recovery.
The gauge had lost 374.69 points in the previous three sessions largely on weak global cues due to rising geopolitical concerns.
US stocks bounced back on Monday after the S&P 500 closed the previous session at a two-month low, in a broad rally led by recently beaten-down bank and technology shares.
At the closing bell on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 183.67 points, or 0.9 per cent, to 20,636.92, the S&P 500 gained 20.06 points, or 0.86 per cent, to 2,349.01 and the Nasdaq Composite added 51.64 points, or 0.89 per cent, to 5,856.79.
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