Sensex pares gains amid late sell-off

After a solid start and a promising day, the close was highly disappointing with the key stock indices ending just a tad higher owing to a sudden decline in the last half an hour or so. The Indian markets ended the day with modest gains, snapping a five-day losing streak. The benchmark indices took an ugly turn in late trading led by weakness in select index heavyweights like L&T, Hero Honda, Bajaj Auto, Cipla and SBI.



However, bucking the negative trend were stocks such as RIL, ICICI Bank, TCS, Tata Motors, Bharti and Sterlite Industries.

"The early gains for the Indian markets could not be sustained owing to a late day selloff as investors remain jittery about the near-term prospects due to macro-economic headwinds like inflation, interest rates, FII selling and governance deficit. Results have been mixed and were mostly factored in. The under-performance of the Indian market may continue unless the Government decides to bite the bullet in the upcoming Union Budget in the form of a few reform-oriented measures, says Amar Ambani, Head of Research (India Private Clients) - IIFL.

The BSE Sensex gained 68 points to close at 18,090 and the NSE Nifty was down 14 points to end at 5,432.

The broader indices under-performed their frontline peers, dragging the market breadth down in late trade.

The Realty index on the BSE was up 2.4% while the Oil & Gas gained nearly 2% while IT and Metal indices were up about 0.9% each.

Power and Capital Goods indices were the top losers, falling 1.3% and 1%, respectively.

In Asia, the Japan's Nikkei Average ended up by 1.8% at 10,457.30 while the S&P/ASX 200 index in Sydney closed up 0.9% at 4,796.50.

The Straits Times index in Singapore was up 0.8% at 3,211. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong was up 1.8% at 23,908.

Markets in China, South Korea and Taiwan were shut for the Lunar New Year.

European indices rose in opening trade, with the UK-based FTSE 100 index in London surpassing the 6,000 milestone. The Stoxx Europe 600 index advanced 0.5% to 285.59 in morning trading.