New Delhi [India], November 26 : Indian stock indices closed largely steady on Tuesday, breaking the uptrend observed over the past two sessions.
The recent rally, excluding today's session, helped recover some of the recent losses, with indices gaining nearly 4 per cent over the past two days.
The Sensex closed at 80,004.06 points, down 105.79 points or 0.13 per cent, while the Nifty settled at 24,194.50 points, down 27.40 points or 0.11 per cent.
However, the Sensex remains approximately 6,000 points below its all-time high of 85,978 points. Recent bearish trends have been attributed to fund outflows, lower-than-expected Q2 earnings by India Inc., and persistently high inflation.
The latest market rally is unlikely to sustain due to earnings concerns, which pose significant headwinds, according to VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
"The impact of short-covering and the positive sentimental effect of the Maharashtra election results will be temporary. Too much should not be read into the FIIs turning big buyers yesterday, as this was due to MSCI rebalancing with higher weightage to HDFC Bank," Vijayakumar said.
"A sustained rally in the market can happen only when indicators of an earnings revival emerge, which is still some time away," he added.
Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research at Kotak Securities, observed that while the intraday market texture is bullish, activity may remain limited in the near term due to temporary overbought conditions.
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) are poised to end November as net sellers in Indian stock markets for the second consecutive month, following a four-month buying streak until September.
According to data from the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL), FPIs have sold stocks worth Rs 25,460 crore in November so far, though the pace of outflows has slowed in recent days.
Looking ahead to December, the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) bi-monthly Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting will be closely monitored for fresh cues. Persistent food inflation continues to delay potential rate cuts by the central bank.
Additionally, GDP data for the July-September quarter, due at 4 pm on November 29, will be a key focus. The Indian economy grew by 6.7 per cent in the April-June quarter, falling short of the RBI's 7.1 per cent forecast.