By Bharath Rajeswaran
BENGALURU (Reuters) -Indian shares closed almost flat on Tuesday after a three-day rally, tracking a drop in Asian peers after China’s exports shrank in October, while imports rose.
The NSE Nifty 50 index fell 0.03% to 19,406.70, while the S&P BSE Sensex settled 0.03% lower at 64,942.40.
Analysts expect the benchmark Nifty to consolidate around current levels after the recent rise. Both the Nifty 50 and Sensex rose over 2% each in the last three sessions following the U.S. Federal Reserve’s rate pause and improved rate outlook.
“We expect consolidation in Indian markets to continue for the time being, after the recent rise” said Narendra Solanki, head of fundamental research, investment services at Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers.
He said India’s strong growth prospects will offset selling pressure due to global factors like middle-east conflict, weakness in China recovery and upcoming data from the U.S.
Ten of the 13 major sectors rose. High weightage financials and information technology (IT) settled marginally higher.
Realty lost 1.34%, dragged by a 3.52% slide in Sobha after it posted a fall in September-quarter profit. Realty index had risen for seven sessions in a row, adding nearly 14%.
The more-domestically focussed small- and mid-caps outperformed the blue-chip index, rising 0.75% and 0.28%, respectively.
Heavyweights Reliance Industries and ITC lost over 0.6% each, after adding over 1.5% each over the previous three sessions.
Asian markets declined, with the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index losing 1.2% after data showed that China’s exports shrank in October while imports unexpectedly rose, showing recovery in the world’s second-largest economy remains uneven. [MKTS/GLOB]
Varun Beverages added 4.82% and hit a record high after several brokerages raised target price on the stock.
Divi’s Laboratories lost 0.72% after weaker-than-expected quarterly earnings. Divi’s Laboratories was among the top Nifty 50 losers.
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)
