Markets turn flat in highly volatile trade

New Delhi: Equity benchmark indices climbed in early trade on Tuesday but were trading flat in a highly volatile trade tracking sluggish global market trends and fresh foreign fund outflows.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 46.5 points to 81,402.34 in early trade. The NSE Nifty went up by 13.15 points to 24,849.25.

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Among the Sensex firms, PowerGrid Corp, NTPC, Tata Motors, Asian Paints, Titan, Bajaj Finserv and Hindustan Unilever were the major gainers.

UltraTech Cement, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Mahindra and Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone and Nestle India were among the laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were quoting lower.

"Sustained capital flows into mutual funds and the retail investor enthusiasm will keep the market resilient. The elevated valuations continue to be a concern, particularly in the broader market. A healthy trend in the market now is that high quality stocks with good earnings visibility are gaining strength on buying by institutions.

"At high valuations unexpected triggers can cause market corrections. Therefore, investors have to be a bit cautious chasing stocks now," V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on Wednesday and the commentary from the US Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell will be keenly watched by market participants for clues of interest rate cuts.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.41 percent to USD 79.45 a barrel.

On Monday, the 30-share BSE Sensex closed higher by 23.12 points or 0.03 percent at 81,355.84, its all-time closing high.

The NSE Nifty ended marginally up 1.25 points or 0.01 per cent at an all-time closing high of 24,836.10.

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