Mumbai, July 16 (IANS) The Indian stock markets ended with marginal gains on Wednesday after a volatile trading session as investors remained cautious amid ongoing corporate earnings and concerns over a potential India-US trade deal, which kept market sentiment in check. The Sensex recovered from early losses to close at 82,634.48, up 63.57 points or 0.08 per cent. The broader Nifty index also ended almost flat at 25,212.05, rising just 16.25 points or 0.06 per cent. “The Nifty continues to face resistance at the crucial level of 25,260, which is the 38.20 per cent Fibonacci retracement of the recent decline from 25,669, indicating indecision among investors at the higher level,” Rupak De of LKP Securities stated.

“On the daily chart, the index has been sustaining above the 50-day moving average (50DMA), signifying a positive short-term trend,” he added. On the Sensex, out of 30 stocks, the top losers were Eicher Motors, Sun Pharma, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, and Bajaj Finance, which fell up to 1.6 per cent. On the other hand, Mahindra and Mahindra, Tech Mahindra, State Bank of India, Infosys, and Adani Ports were among the top gainers. In the broader market, the NSE Midcap 100 index remained flat with a slight positive bias, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 gained just 0.03 per cent. Among sectoral indices, Nifty PSU Bank emerged as the top performer, gaining 1.81 per cent.

Stocks like Punjab National Bank, Punjab and Sind Bank, Canara Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, SBI, Indian Bank and Union Bank of India saw gains of over 1 per cent each. Other sectors such as IT, auto, bank, energy, FMCG, realty, oil and gas, and consumer durables also ended in the green. However, sectors like financial services, metal and pharma ended in the red. Meanwhile, the India VIX, which measures market volatility, dropped by 2.09 per cent to settle at 11.24. The Indian Rupee experienced notable volatility, initially weakening against a robust US dollar before recovering mid-session due to dollar supply.

This movement follows a three-day consolidation phase for the USD-INR pair, ranging from 85.70 to 86.05. “The sentiment remains acutely favourable for the dollar, driven by expectations of a hawkish Federal Reserve post-US inflation data and persistent uncertainties regarding India-US trade agreements,” Dilip Parmar of HDFC Securities stated. “In the near term, we anticipate the spot USDINR to consolidate within the 85.50 to 86.30 band,” Parmar stated.