Sensex circumspect before Fed announcement

After opening the week with healthy gains, the Indian markets ended on a subdued note on Tuesday on account of nervous global markets. Sentiment on local bourses was affected after a late decline in key Asian markets and a weak start to the equity markets across Europe.



"Investors decided to stay on the sidelines ahead of the all-important meeting of the Federal Reserve policymakers. Also, the mood turned sour after China's market cracked late in the day in reaction to less than forecast imports data," says, Amar Ambani, Vice President, Research IIFL.

Shares of Tata Motors hogged limelight after the company posted consolidated net profit of Rs19.89bn for the June 2010 quarter, a significant turnaround from a loss of Rs3.28bn in the corresponding quarter last year. JP Associates, Hindustan Unilever and ICICI Bank were among the other notable gainers in the Sensex.

The Sensex slipped 64 points to end at 18,223, while Nifty lost 24 points to end at 5,462.

Markets in Asia ended in red; the Nikkei in Japan lost 0.3%, Australia's S&P/ASX ended lower by 1.1%, the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong also ended lower 1.5% and Shanghai SE Composite lost 3%.

European indices also were trading in the red, the DAX in Germany was down 0.9%, the CAC 40 index in France was down 1% and the FTSE in the UK was down 0.5%.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, the BSE IT index was top loser; the index lost 1.5%, followed by BSE Teck index which lost 1.3% and BSE Consumer Durables index slipped 1%.

The Mid-Cap index and the Small-cap index slipped 0.5% each.

Outside the frontline indices, the big losers in the broader market were Jai Corp, MMTC, Aban, Cadila. On the other hand, gainers included KSK Energy, EIH, Mundra Port and GMR Infra.