Indian benchmark indices erased all intraday gains to end marginally lower on Tuesday dragged by selling in IT and pharma stocks. The Sensex ended 63.29 points or 0.21 percent lower at 30,609.30 while the Nifty50 ended at 9,029.05, down 10.20 points or 0.11 percent.

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Sentiment dampened after Reuters poll said that India’s economy is likely to have expanded at its slowest pace in at least eight years in the January-March quarter, partly as a result of the coronavirus clampdown.

Selling was witnessed in Nifty IT and Nifty Pharma while Nifty Metal ended over 2 percent higher followed by Nifty FMCG, Nifty Auto and Nifty Realty gaining over 1 percent each. Nifty Bank also ended with gains of almost 1 percent.

Among stocks, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finserv, TCS, Bajaj Finance, and Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries led the losses among Nifty50 constituents while JSW Steel, Eicher Motors, Titan Company, UltraTech Cement and IndusInd Bank were the top index gainers.

Broader indices, Nifty Smallcap100 and Nifty Midcap100 ended 0.76 percent and 1.32 percent higher, respectively.

"The markets ended on a sideways note once again - it was neither successful in crossing 9,175, nor did it break 8,950. With expiry just around the corner, the trading range has become narrow which is making it difficult for traders to take a position in a particular direction," said Manish Hathiramani, Index Trader and Technical Analyst, Deen Dayal Investments.

Bharti Airtel shares ended 5.71 percent lower at Rs 559.15 after its parent company Bharti Telecom said it is planning to raise $1 billion (Rs 7,600 crore) by selling 2.75 percent stake in the company.

Shares of ITC ended 2.76 percent higher at Rs 191.50 after the company said on Sunday it would buy spice maker Sunrise Foods.

JSW Steel rose 5.92 percent to close at Rs 176.15 apiece despite poor March quarter results as brokerages remained bullish on the stock. The company reported a sharp -- 87 percent -- fall in consolidated net profit to Rs 188 crore mainly on account of lower income. The company had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 1,495 crore in the year-ago quarter.

Shares of Avenue Supermarts, the company that owns and operates the DMart chain of stores, ended 4.67 percent lower at Rs 2,290.40 after it warned of a sharp fall in profitability this financial year. Analysts have also cut their earnings estimates on the company in view of its April sales declining 45 percent post-COVID-19 lockdown.

Meanwhile, Asian peers rose for the day with MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan up 1.6 percent as investors looked past Sino-US trade tensions and focused on more stimulus in China and a gradual reopening of the world economy.

First Published:May 26, 2020 3:35 PM IST