Nifty closes above 25,000 for second straight session

Mumbai, Aug 27 (IANS) Indian equity indices closed flat on Tuesday due to mixed global sentiments.

At closing, Sensex was at 81,711 with a slight gain of 13.65 points and Nifty closed at 25,017 with a gain of 7 points. It is the second consecutive day when the National Stock Exchange (NSE) benchmark closed above 25,000.

Strong buying was seen in the midcap and smallcap stocks compared to largecaps. The Nifty midcap 100 index was at 59,220, up 289 points or 0.49 per cent and the Nifty smallcap 100 index was at 19,333, up 201 points or 1.05 per cent.

According to market experts, the domestic market witnessed profit booking near record highs. While the positive expectations regarding a potential rate cut by the US Fed in September remain, the recent geopolitical tensions and rising crude oil prices have made investors cautious amid high valuations, they maintained.

Among the sectoral indices, fin service, pharma, realty, media, and private bank were the major gainers. FMCG, metal, energy, infra, and commodity were the major losers.

In the Sensex pack, Bajaj Finserv, Maruti Suzuki, L&T, Bajaj Finance, Infosys, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma, Axis Bank and Bharti Airtel were the top gainers. Titan, JSW Steel, HUL, Tata Motors, NTPC, ITC, Power Grid and Reliance were the top losers.

Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst, LKP Securities said: "The sentiment has entered an indecisive phase as the Nifty closed with a Doji pattern on the daily chart. The significant presence of both call and put option writers at the 25,000 strike price strengthens the technical setup. As a result, the Nifty is likely to remain range-bound or might experience a slight dip in the near term."

"On the lower end, 24,800 could act as immediate support, while a rise above 25,100 might push the Nifty towards 25,300," he added.