The market gyrated between gains and losses throughout the day, and closed with moderate gains on Wednesday after a choppy session.
Investors remained cautious ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting outcome. Buying was seen in auto and energy that helped the benchmark indices close higher.
Sensex closed at 72,101.69, up 90 points, or 0.12 per cent while the Nifty 50 settled with a gain of 22 points, or 0.10 per cent at 21,839.10.
Shares of Reliance Industries, ITC and SBI contributed the most to the gains in the Sensex index while the shares of HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and Tata Motors were the top drags on the index.
Among sector-wise analysis, most indices ended with losses. Nifty Metal was down 0.79 per cent as the top loser. Nifty Bank slipped 0.16 per cent while the Private Bank index fell 0.29 per cent. Nifty PSU Bank ended with a mild gain of 0.05 per cent.
Nifty Oil & Gas (up 1.29 per cent) stood at the top, followed by Nifty Realty (up 0.62 per cent) were the top gainers.
The Nifty remained volatile ahead of the Fed’s policy meeting. The overall sentiment remains negative, as the index closed below the previous consolidation low.
Midcap and smallcap indices underperformed the large cap indices with the BSE Midcap index closed with a nominal gain of 0.05 per cent while the Smallcap index settled with a loss of 0.14 per cent.
In the Nifty50 pack, the top gainers were: Eicher Motors (up 4.25 per cent), Maruti Suzuki India (up 2.83 per cent) and Nestle India (up 2.18 per cent).
Tata Steel (down 2.25 per cent), Tata Consumer (down 2.08 per cent) and Tata Motors (down 1.40 per cent) closed as the top losers in the Nifty 50 index.
Further, a long buildup was seen in Eicher Motors, Maruti Suzuki and Cummins India, while a short buildup was seen in Tata Chemicals, Page Industries and Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail.
Shares of India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki crossed the Rs 12,000 mark during mid-day trades on March 20.
Brokerage firm CLSA highlighted that Maruti will maintain its top position in the CNG PV segment with a 72 per cent share.
With the rise in CNG passenger vehicles, stocks such as Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors will benefit, the brokerage firm said.
CLSA estimates the market share of CNG PVs to rise from 15 percent in FY2024 to 22 per cent in FY2030. This growth, the brokerage said, could be attributed to lower running costs of CNG Vehicles.
In the global market, the US stock index futures ticked lower as investors awaited the conclusion of the Federal Reserve’s meeting.