Markets turn flat amid profit-taking, weak trends in Asian peers

Stock market benchmark indices turned flat after beginning the trade on a positive note on Wednesday amid profittaking in line with weak trends in Asian peersThe 30share BSE Sensex climbed 12881 points to 8184057 in early trade The NSE Nifty went up by 304 points to 2504815However soon both the benchmark indices faced profittaking and were trading lower The BSE benchmark traded 4246 points lower at 8168257 while the Nifty quoted 2160 points down at 2499615Among the 30 Sensex firms Mahindra amp Mahindra Power Grid Tata Motors Titan Sun Pharma ITC and Reliance Industries were the biggest gainersBajaj Finserv JSW Steel Tata Steel Tata Consultancy Services HCL Technologies and Maruti were among the laggardsIn Asian markets Seoul Tokyo Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading lowerThe US markets ended with marginal gains on TuesdayWhat experts said on stock market updateThe market has entered a consolidation phase with low volatility and this trend is likely to continue in the nearterm Falling bond yields in the US has restrained FII selling and they have even turned marginal buyers Going by previous trends DIIs are likely to sell if FIIs continue to buy This trend will keep the market within a range with a slight upward bias This is a desirable and healthy trend given the elevated valuations in the market V K Vijayakumar Chief Investment Strategist Geojit Financial Services said while speaking on stock market updateForeign Institutional Investors FIIs bought equities worth Rs 150376 crore on Tuesday according to exchange dataDomestic Institutional Investors DIIs offloaded equities worth Rs 60408 croreGlobal oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 014 per cent to USD 7966 a barrelAfter oscillating between highs and lows the BSE benchmark eked out a marginal gain of 1365 points or 002 per cent to settle at 8171176 on Tuesday The NSE Nifty ended almost flat up 715 points or 003 per cent at 2501775 its ninth straight session of gainsRupee falls 2 paise to 8395 against US dollar in early tradeMeanwhile rupee depreciated 2 paise to 8395 against the US dollar in morning trade on Wednesday weighed down by a muted trend in domestic equitiesForex traders said from a macroeconomic standpoint the rupees downside appears wellcontained with the 84level acting as a crucial support likely bolstered by expected RBI intervention to prevent further depreciationAt the interbank foreign exchange market the local unit opened at 8394 then lost further ground and touched 8395 registering a loss of 2 paise from its previous closeOn Tuesday the rupee depreciated by 6 paise to close at 8393 against the American currencyAccording to CR Forex Advisors MD Amit Pabari the Reserve Banks interventions not only seem to limit the rupees downside but also cap its appreciationThis was evident earlier in the week when despite significant dollar weakness the rupee remained steady unlike other emerging market currencies that experienced notable gains Pabari said while speaking on stock market updateThe rupee is expected to trade within a narrow range in the near term with an upside limit around 8380 and solid support near 8405 with a broader range of 8360 to 8405 in the medium term Pabari addedWith imnputs from PTI