Mumbai, Sep 17 Indian equity indices closed with marginal gains as market investors shifted their focus to the US Federal Open Market Committee's policy meeting, starting later in the day on Tuesday.
At closing, the Sensex was up 90 points or 0.11 per cent at 83,079 and Nifty was at 25,418, up 34 points or 0.14 per cent.
Selling was seen in the midcap and smallcap stocks.
The Nifty Midcap 100 index was down 79 points or 0.13 per cent at 60,180 and the Nifty Smallcap 100 index was at 19,465, down 72 points or 0.37 per cent.
In the Sensex pack, Bharti Airtel, NTPC, M&M, Titan, L&T, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HUL, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance, UltraTech Cement, Sun Pharma and HCL Tech were the top gainers.
Tata Motors, JSW Steel, Tata Steel, Power Grid, ITC, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finserv, Maruti Suzuki, SBI, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank were the top losers.
Among the sectoral indices, PSU Bank, pharma, metal and media fell the most.
Auto, IT, fin services, FMCGs, realty and energy contributed the most.
The market trend was negative and 2,241 shares closed in the red, 1,709 shares in the green and 108 shares closed without any change.
According to market experts, "The Indian market exhibited a subtle positive momentum, driven by the anticipation of a rate cut cycle by the US Fed. Although a 25-bps cut is largely factored in, the market remains attuned to the Fed's comments on the health of the economy and the future trajectory of rate cuts. Further, robust institutional flows continued to bolster the domestic market."
"While the overall trend remained positive, there was notable buying interest in large-cap stocks, particularly in sectors such as IT, FMCG, and private banks," they added.
Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst of LKP Securities said, "Nifty continues to consolidate near its all-time high, where a trendline resistance is observed. A breakout from the recent range-bound pattern could provide a clear direction for the Nifty. Immediate support is at 25,350, and a fall below this level might lead to the unwinding of put option writing positions, potentially triggering a correction toward 25,000."
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